Season Two
by deadwomanwalking
Summary: This picks up right after Season One. This is an Alternate Universe where there are mutations, things like Rick has super-strength, or Daryl becomes the ultimate hunter able to see at night and so on. Everyone is infected and they have no idea what to expect next. Please read and review.
1. What Lies Ahead

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or show, I'm just having a lot of fun with them. I don't make anything off this story but the kind reviews from my reader.

The Italic's is Rick from the present, this chapter is from Daryl's POV.

Warnings: Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content between two men and Bad Language. You've been warned.

What Lies Ahead

_That wasn't the worst that happened to us, losing Amy, Jim and Jacqui was just the beginning. I will say that it wasn't all bad, we had a few surprises and a few things to celebrate and we didn't let a moment of it just pass us by like before. Because then we realized how rare peace and normalcy was going to be, and we had to grab it when it showed up. Because tragedy was always just around the corner and each one was scarier and sadder and harder to deal with then the last. So you'll be hearing from several of us, as we tell you what happened next in our journey to make it in this new apocalyptic civilization._

My name's Daryl Dixon and I just found out I was going to be a father, turns out I'm so good I knocked up a guy. I'd been screwing around with him for the last few weeks, but because of these mutations he was able to conceive. On top of that my brother was still missing and with one less body part, his hand to be exact. We were just driving away from the fiery crater that had been the C.D.C. building; in the last week we've lost Merle, Amy, several others I didn't get know, Jim and Jacqui. She was the most recent having been in the C.D.C. when it exploded.

We drove for hours, well into the night until Rick stopped in a small suburban neighborhood, which was a good thing my truck had been running on fumes that last few miles. Glenn was passed out with his head on my lap. I kept thinking back to those last remaining minutes trapped in that room, finding out Glenn was pregnant and then getting locked in there by Doctor psycho. I had been pissed, and scared and the more freighted I got, the angrier I became. I wasn't scared of myself; I was terrified of losing Glenn and my unborn child. Which had made no sense to me at the time, but over the next few weeks my mixed emotions would end up no longer being mixed.

We didn't do much discussing that night, just cleared out a couple of houses, found a place to sleep for the night, couches, the floor or a bed or two. Glenn and I stayed in the master bedroom sleeping cuddled up together; no one questioned it, at least not until the next day.

It was that morning that we searched the houses for food, then sat down to discuss all that had happened and figure out where to go next. About an hour after eating lunch Rick sighed then spoke up. "Let's get some things cleared up, Glenn, are you really pregnant?" Glenn was sitting next to me holding his recently empty plate.

"Yes. It makes sense all the symptoms, I think the stomach cramps were because I was hungry and the baby wasn't happy about it. Plus I'm sure it wasn't happy with all the throwing up I'd been doing." Glenn said as he tried to explain why I had to carry him to the C.D.C. building.

"He's right, going back over the last few days it all adds up, and then the glow weather he knows it not, I would've asked or suggested that he was pregnant, but the fact that he was a man kept my mouth shut." Lori said as she put her arm around Carl.

"Do I need to ask who the father is?" Rick asked as he looked at the group then turned to me, everyone was looking at me, I had stopped hiding it the moment I found out.

"Just so you know, I was never ashamed of being gay, I just didn't have a death wish." I stated.

"Your brother?" Rick asked.

I didn't respond to that, because it was the truth. "Okay so now that you know, let's make things perfectly clear, y'all aren't my friends, you left my brother to die and I have forgiven you, 'cause you tried to help me get him back. So Rick, T-Dog we're even. But now you have to earn my trust and loyalty, it starts here and now." I turned to Glenn as I continued. "I don't show affection well, but I like you, and I'm not going to be a dead beat dad, but I'm not ready for the whole family thing."

"I understand Daryl, I'm okay with going slow, and truth is this wasn't what I was expecting either. So let's keep things as they are and go from there." Glenn suggested.

"I can do that."

"Good, now that, that is cleared up, let's discuss the mutations." Dale suggested.

"Good idea Dale, who's got 'em and who doesn't, has anyone noticed anything unusual with them or someone else?" Rick asked. Shane got up and walked out to his jeep from the house we'd been squatting in for the last day. He came back a few minutes later with a tire iron, it was a single metal bar with a twist at the end of it; he handed it to Rick.

"Bend that." Shane told him as he sat back down.

Rick took the bar grabbing it from either end then bent it in half without breaking a sweat. "Okay, I'm unnaturally strong."

Shane took the bar back grabbed it from either end and then straightened it, he used too much force and it broke in two. "I'm stronger." Shane said.

"I can see in the dark, and hear really far, I'm sure other things are changing as well." I informed them.

"That's pretty cool." Glenn said. "Besides being pregnant I'm pretty fast and I've gotten more agile lately."

"Anyone else." Rick asked, everyone either shrugged or shook their head. "Okay, let's discuss where to go next." Rick said changing the subject to something more important at the moment.

"I say we try my idea and head for Fort Benning." Shane suggested.

"At least it'd be a direction." T-Dog agreed.

"On what gas we're low as it is." Lori reminded us.

"Then we need to down size this convoy." Rick suggested.

"Rick's right." Glenn agreed as he pointed his thumb at him.

"My truck's on empty anyways so I'll ride my brother's bike; I can drive ahead of the caravan and come back if there's something that the cars can't get around." I told 'em.

"I can lose the jeep and ride in the R.V." Shane suggested.

"I can abandon the van; I'll join Shane in the R.V." T-Dog seconded.

"Rick, my station wagons big enough for your family as well." Carol threw out there.

"Thanks Carol, Andrea you can join the R.V. crew." Rick informed her.

"Got it, so we can just siphon the gas from the others and have more to travel on." Andrea said.

"What about Glenn?" Carol asked.

"He rides with me." I stated matter of fact.

"Daryl I don't think a bike ride while pregnant is a good idea." Lori told me.

"Lori's right, plus the R.V. has a bathroom." Glenn said. "I'll ride with them."

"All right." I relented.

"Okay, I think we need to take the highway it'll be faster and easier getting to Fort Benning. It'll use up less gas too." Rick suggested.

"Well that sounds like a plan; when do we start?" Andrea asked.

"First thing in the morning, we all need another day to rest and recuperate our emotions." Rick said.

The rest of us seconded that, some were still grieving for their loss, I was speaking of Andrea and T-Dog; he'd been close to Jacqui. So we took care of ourselves the rest of the day, cleaned our clothes, washed up the best we could in the situation we'd been placed in. Some of us shaved, I liked my goatee right where it was, on my face. And as the day came to an end me and Glenn headed to the master room again where we talked a little while before going to sleep.

I found out that night that his father disowned him when he came out, he got a pizza deliver job to pay for college, he found out that my first real relationship was with my next door neighbor, who looked great mowing his lawn. I didn't mention much about myself or past, well not the important stuff, I wasn't ready and Glenn never pushed, ever, that kid surprised me with how patient he was. No one, not even the neighbor had enough patients to coax me out, he did.

The next morning we packed up our bags and loaded the cars, Rick went to make his call as T-Dog and I siphoned off the gas and loaded them up. Rick got back as I started up my brother's bike, I suppose it's now mine. I saw Carol and Sophia getting into the Station Wagon with Rick and his family. T-Dog and Glenn went into the R.V. with Andrea and Dale.

I stopped right behind where the station wagon was parked as I saw Rick kiss Lori; I looked in the other direction and noticed Shane watching not far from them. Rick turned and looked at him as Lori got in the car, he smiled, Shane smiled back, they both nodded before Rick joined her.

"Son, let's saddle up." Dale called to Shane just before getting in the R.V. Shane moved from his spot to the R.V. and got on bored. I headed out front, of the convoy, with Dale right behind me and Rick taking the rear as we headed to the highway and Fort Benning.

It was a few hours on the empty highway, at least our side; the other was jammed packed with vehicles. Then a problem came up, as not all those vehicles stayed to one side of this highway, I sped up as I weaved through the cars to see if there was a way through for the convoy. I looked back and saw the R.V. stop; there was a clear path if they went slow and followed me there shouldn't be a problem, some cars could be pushed with a slight nudge out of the way; so then I turned and headed back. I drove up to Dale's window he looked at me.

"Do you see a way through?" He asked, I nodded and jerked my head as a signal for him to continue on then went passed the R.V. and drove up to Rick's window.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I'm going to lead y'all through just go slow and follow me." I informed him; then drove around and back to the front of Dale.

I went slow as I led them through this minefield of cars, some of which had bodies in them, most were abandoned, and quite a few had been flipped. We were half way through when Dale's radiator hose gave and his engine started to sputter as it steamed and hissed and then died.

I stopped and turned off my bike before headed back as they were getting out of their vehicles. "I said it, didn't I say it?" Dale said as he came around to the front of the R.V. "A thousand times dead in the water."

"Problem, Dale?" Rick asked as he walked up to him.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of—" Dale paused as he noticed that I went around to the back of one of the cars. "Okay, that was dumb."

I was going through what supplies were in the car as Shane said. "If you can't find a radiator hose here…"

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." I finished for him as I pulled out a back pack.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog suggested.

"Maybe some water." Carol piped in as she wrapped her arms around Sophia.

"Or food." Glenn suggested next, I was betting he could use some food right about then.

"This is a graveyard." Lori informed us; I looked at her my arm still searching through the car. "I don't know how I feel about this." She said.

"All right, all right, here we go. Come on y'all just look around, gather what you can." Rick said. T-Dog headed back to grab the gas cans and hoses to start siphoning the cars. Everyone started going in separate directions as they looked for things we needed to survive. I finished my search on this car coming up empty.

I grabbed my bow from where I'd hooked it on the back of my Harley and followed T-Dog to one of the cars. I had an arrow in my mouth as we opened up the gas cap, he started to siphon from it as I took the other gas can and hose and headed to another car, I passed Carol as I went, she was riffling through a suit case placing a rather pretty blouse up against her body, I tuned them out as I set up the can next to one of the cars.

I started siphoning from while I took the arrow out of my mouth and loaded it into my bow, I looked in the backseat then, there was a car seat strapped in, covered in blood. I set my bow next to the can, and while the car was empting I went to the back and started going through it, there were blankets and pillows some boxes of clothes, then I saw a diaper bag and I grabbed it.

As I looked through it, I found: diapers, wipes, some baby toys, a few bottles some empty some not; I tossed those, there was a colorful blanket that was rather soft, a book teaching the ABCs, a couple of baby clothes, a feminine product named tampon; I figured the girls would end up needing those, there was also a wallet, a powdered milk container that was more than half full; still good, there was nail polish, lip stick, some sort of cream and baby powder, I zipped up the bag and slung it on my back.

Once the car was on empty I picked up the can and felt that it was not quite full yet, I picked up my bow with my other head and headed to the next car, and as it was siphoning I stood and stretched glancing around, that's when I saw them, several walkers headed our way; in fact it was a whole herd.

I tossed the diaper bag next to the car as I saw Rick dive under a vehicle along with the rest of his family and Carol and her daughter as well. I looked around and saw Glenn oblivious to the threat; I gripped my bow as I started to make my way to him while staying hidden behind the cars. There was a time when a situation like this would come up and I'd only think of myself, I thought of Merle to but he could take care of himself, I never worried about him. But then and now I think of Glenn first not myself, I'm constantly worrying about Glenn not myself, now that was a big difference I noticed, between who I used to be and who I became.

I stopped as I saw Shane push Glenn under the van he'd been working on; I crouched next to a car. I looked around and saw T-Dog running; he got stuck at a car when he suddenly cut himself. "Shit." I muttered as I ran around the cars.

I saw T-Dog running from the walkers; he was bleeding from his arm leaving a trail. There were cars and walkers in the way so I knew I'd have to go the long way around if I wanted to reach him before he became walker food.

I saw a walker trap T-Dog as he stumbled and fell on his ass against one of the cars. I finally made it as I crouched behind a car and looked at the walker as he passed me headed straight for T-Dog. I stood up dropping my bow on the hood of a car and with my knife I grabbed it around the throat and right at the top of the spine into its brain I stuck my knife. It started collapsing as I lowered it to the ground with me on top.

I took out my knife as I looked at T-Dog; there was fear and pain in his eyes, as well as shocked surprise that I just saved his life. T-Dog started sobbing in both pain and fear as I put my finger to my mouth. "Shh." I told him as I grabbed his legs and pulled him down onto the asphalt.

I turned and grabbed the walker I just killed and placed it on top of T-Dog to cover his scent. Then walked over him to the car he'd been against, there was a dead body sitting in the drivers seat, it had had been there for a while. I grabbed it and pulled it on top of myself, I breathed through my mouth as I tried not to think about the dead face that was right there laying on me. I heard some walkers as they shuffled passed us.

After a few minutes when there was no more shuffling and the growling sounds were gone I moved. My first thought was to get this stinking ass off of me and check on T-Dog, make sure he hadn't bled out.

I got to my hands and knees and pushed the dead walker off of T-Dog, then grabbed his shirt and pulled him up. He groaned as he sat. The bandanna Glenn had wrapped around my hand several days ago was in my pocket, I used it to press into T-Dog's wounded arm. I'd cleaned it yesterday so it was safe to use on T-Dog. My hand was healing nicely I had noticed when I took the bandage off last night.

While he held the bandanna there I crouched low and took a look around when I saw Sophia screaming and running to the woods while she was being chased by two walkers, I saw Rick follow her as the rest were coming out of their hiding spots. I got T-Dog up and pushed him toward the R.V. grabbing my crossbow from the hood of the car where I'd dropped it when I saved his black ass.

I saw them gather at the guardrail Rick had jumped over just moments before. Carol had ran to the guardrail. "Lori." She cried Lori was by her with Carl, Shane and Glenn right behind them. "There's two walkers are after my baby." Carol cried as Lori grabbed her keeping her from running after them. Andrea and Dale had joined them as Lori wrapped her arms around Carol.

I walked up to them, T-Dog next to me holding his arm. Andrea saw him and took him to the R.V. where she could wrap up his arm and get the bleeding under control. I went to Glenn and put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm okay. Just-" He bent over the guardrail then and threw up. There wasn't much I could do for him as he finished.

Rick arrived several minutes later. "Where's Sophia?" Carol asked as she noticed her daughter wasn't with him.

"What? She's not here?" Rick asked.

"Last we saw she was with you." Lori told him.

I had a feeling something had gone wrong. "Rick, show me where you last saw her." I said, I was the best tracker the group had, scratch that, I was the _only_ tracker the group had. Glenn and Shane followed us as Rick led me to the creek and the burrow he'd left her hiding. I looked at Rick as I asked. "Sure this is the spot?"

He walked up next to me as he said. "I left her right here." He stretched his hand out to the burrow.

"I drew the walker's way off in that direction up the creek." He said as he pointed before resting his hands on his legs.

"Without a paddle—seems where we've landed." I informed him.

"She was gone by the time I got back here, I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." He explained as he pointed to a trail up the creek that would take her right back to the highway.

I walked to the edge and looked up at Glenn. "Hey, short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail." I told him. He looked at me as he held his shot gun close to his chest before moving off the trail.

"Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane said.

"Shane, she understood me fine." Rick told him, frustratingly.

"Kids tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers, got to wonder how much of what you said stuck."

Once Glenn had moved away some I saw the tracks. "Got clear prints right here, she did like you said headed back to the highway." I informed Rick as he walked over to me; I placed my crossbow in my left hand. "Let's spread out, make our way back." I told 'em as Shane gave me a hand up out of the creek bed.

"She couldn't have gone far." Rick stated as Shane helped him out as well.

"Hey, we gonna find her." He told Rick before letting his hand go, as Rick followed us Shane taking the rear he continued. "She'll be tuckered out hiding in the bush somewhere."

I led the way as I stayed low to the ground my bow in my right hand again as I followed the trail, I stopped and knelt on the ground my free hand resting on my knee. Glenn stopped behind me, Rick off to the side a bit and Shane walked up and crouched with his shot gun against his shoulder between his legs trying to see what I see.

"She was doing just fine till right here." I explained. I looked off in the direction she had been heading in as I continued. "All she had to do was keep going." I used my arm and pointed it in the other direction. "She veered off that way."

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked.

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her made her run off." Shane theorized.

"A walker?" Glenn asked

I shook my head then informed 'em. "I don't see any other footprints. Just hers." I informed 'em.

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asked as he looked at Rick.

"No, better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking." Rick said, then Shane stood back up as Rick continued. "Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. _But _most of all keep everybody calm."

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied." Shane said then turned and headed back to the highway Glenn behind him. I grabbed Glenn as he passed me and kissed him real quick, it was all I could do to tell him it'd be all right and Rick and I will do our best to bring her back safe and sound. Glenn seemed to understand as he smiled at me before following Shane.

"Come on." Rick said as I watched Glenn a few seconds before we continued to follow her trail.

I grabbed my bow with both hands as I headed deeper into the woods with Rick behind me. For several minutes close to an hour we followed the trail. Not a word between us, which was fine with me, I preferred the silence, I had learned that early on when hunting, it just became a habit not to talk. That is until it became necessary to speak.

"Tracks are gone." Rick said.

I kicked a few leaves off the trail and bent closer, I was thankful for my improved eyesight as I saw them. "No, they're faint, but they ain't gone." I informed Rick. I pointed them out as I continued. "She came through here."

"How can you tell?" Rick asked. "I don't see anything dirt, grass."

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" I asked, he shut up. "Besides with these eyes I don't miss much anymore."

"Right." Rick muttered as he fell into step on my left as he followed.

We kept moving for several minutes, more like a couple of hours probably, Rick was holding his pistol in his right hand as he moved to my other side, it was quite, no birds nothing. Then we heard leaves rustling ahead of us, we both crouched down I got my bow ready to fire while Rick kept his piece down not wanting to attract unwanted attention.

Rick pointed the direction it had come from and he started to lead the way as I stayed at the ready while I followed him keeping our steps light. I think I'd gotten use to the smell of death 'cause I smelt that sucker way before it started making noise, I just didn't mention it, mostly because these new improved senses were something I was having to get use to and learn how to use them.

We looked down a slight hill at the walker; it was a guy once, probably a good looking ladies' man before he became walker food. But I really wouldn't know much about that, I was never a ladies man, for one thing I didn't know how to talk to them or relate to 'em. With men it was always easy, when I wasn't around my family that is.

Rick looked at me I gave him a signal to go to the left, I went to the right and we pincer moved the fucker. Rick got its attention as he whistled, it roared at him for 'bout a second before my arrow went through its skull, and he collapsed on the ground.

Rick and I walked up to him; I braced my foot on its back as I grabbed my arrow and pulled it out. I backed a few steps from it before raising my voice. "Sophia!" Rick pulled out a pair of gloves from his back pocket and put them on as he knelt down next to the walker.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Skin under the fingernails." He explained before rolling him over. "It fed recently." He opened its jaw and tried to pull something out of its mouth. "There's flesh caught in its teeth." He pulled it out of the fucker's mouth as I crouched next to him.

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" I asked.

"Only one way to know for sure." He pulled out a short knife from his other back pocket then opened the guys bloodied shirt, its stomach was distended, so it's been chowing down on something. I pulled on some gloves before touching his shoulder.

"Here, I'll do it." I pulled out my hunting knife as I asked. "How many kills you skin and gutted in your life? Anyway, mine is sharper." I straddled the body then, using my feet I braced myself as I gripped the handle with both hands, then jammed the knife from tip to hilt into the dead guys gut with a grunt as I started to use a sawing motion back and forth as I pulled it down to open the guys stomach up.

I'll tell you this right now in all the years of hunting and gutting kills the inside always, always smells worse than the outside. So while I was cutting Rick was making a face as he turned away from the putrid smell of death, I had learned early on to breathe through my mouth to control both the intake of the smell, and the gag reflex. I got done with the first cut, I pulled my knife out and jammed it in a second time; Rick flinched at the sound and the smell.

I cut a third time before the hole in the guy's gut was big enough for me to get in there and dig around. Rick looked at me, then back at the dead body as I finished, I put my knife down before looking at him. "Now comes the bad part." I warned this is when the smells really hit you, when you start riffling through the guts.

I used my hand to dig and maneuver inside this guy's belly before I started pulling things out. Unlike most of my kills where their body parts are red some tinged pink or a tannish gray color, this guy was all black and dark green. He'd been dead a while before I killed him for good, as the blood was black as night.

Rick had to cover his mouth as I pulled out some intestine before I reached in and found the stomach. "Yeah, hoss had a big meal not long ago." I told Rick as I felt around the stomach. "I feel it in there." Using my other hand as leverage I pulled his whole stomach out and laid it on the ground so we could go through it.

"Here's the gut bag." I informed Rick who looked at it.

"I got this." He took his pick sticker and cut into the stomach, opening up its contents. We used our knives to take out the contents, Rick pulled out some mush and threw it on the ground; I pulled out the skull of a rodent.

"This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch." I informed Rick as I examined the skull of said rodent. Then tossed it to the ground before I stood grabbing my arrow and bow.

"At least we know." Rick said.

"At least we know." I seconded before we both headed back to the highway, the sun was going to be setting soon and there was no way we'd be able to find her in the dark. Seeing as I'm the only one that can see in the dark a one man hunting party won't cover much ground.

On the way back Rick stopped and turned to me. "Daryl, there's going to be a lot of questions and Carol's probably going to be in a panic. I know we can't leave until we find Sophia but we aren't woodsmen, you are. When we get back to the group I need to get us organized. So my question is will you help oversee that it gets done properly and we don't lose more people."

"Sure Rick, I already planned on doin' that anyways." I told him. He turned and picked up the pace a bit as there was a golden hue showing up, which told us the sun was starting to set. It was the truth, you see I felt this need to find her, mostly because ever since Glenn's condition was known I became scared, terrified even that I'd be just like my old man, a mean drunk with a bad temper to boot. I thought that if I could find Sophia then I could take care of and protect my own child. This search didn't end well.

I could hear some of our group talking as we neared the interstate, couldn't say who or what was being said, but as Carol came into view I did hear Glenn plain as day. "Oh God, they're back." A heard a clunk on the asphalt like something was set down, before the group headed for the guard rail. Rick was a few paces ahead a me as he got to Carol first. She was just standing at the guardrail waiting; the saddest thing for a parent, is waiting for news of their lost child.

"You didn't find her?" Carol asked when Rick stopped.

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick informed her as he stepped over the guardrail.

The others had gathered as Carol begged him. "You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods." I had reached them standing on the other side of the rail; I had my crossbow slung on my back.

"Hunting in the dark's no good, y'all just be tripping over yourselves, more people get lost." I explained.

"But she's twelve, she can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?" She asked sorrow and fear were in her voice as tears appeared in her eyes.

"I know this is hard, but I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick said trying to calm her down.

"And we tracked her for a while." I added.

"We have to make this an organized effort." Rick said as he addressed the whole group. "Daryl knows the woods better than anybody; I've asked him to oversee this."

Carol noticed a spot on my pants that I got when I was digging around in hoss's stomach. "Is that blood?" She asked her breathing picked up as she was headed closer to a panic attack.

"We took down a walker." Rick explained.

"Walker? Oh my God." Carol was start to look a little faint.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Rick told her trying to calm her down.

Lori put her hand on Carol's arm to help comfort her as Andrea asked. "How can you know that?"

Rick looked at me. "We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." I informed them.

Carol turned around and sat on the guardrail. "Oh God." Sounded more in relief that time then in panic. Lori sat next to her rubbing her back as she tried to get her breathing under control. She looked at Rick and said. "How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" She was angry and scared and taking out on Rick.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off, it was her best chance." Rick explained, of course I tried to put myself in her shoes if it was mine and Glenn's child that he left, I knew I'd probably be pissed, but truth was I wouldn't leave our kid in his care. I'd have gone after 'em and protected them myself, I glanced at Glenn real quick.

Shane walked up to Rick and looked at Carol. "Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol."

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own?" Carol asked tears in her eyes and voice as she was losing the battle not to cry. "She's just a child." Rick knelt in front of her, Carol bent towards him as she repeated. "She's just a child."

Lori pulled her back as Rick looked up at her and continued to try and explain. "It was my only option the only choice I could make."

Shane was leaning against the guardrail as he spoke up. "I'm sure nobody doubts that."

"My little girl got left in the woods." She started to give into her tears. I finally crossed the guardrail and walked up to Glenn putting my hand on his shoulder. Rick stood then and walked away, there was nothing more he could say to convince Carol that it had been his only option to save Sophia's life. Andrea sat on the other side of Carol as she broke down and cried.

Rick was upset it was easy to see in his stride as he walked down the highway until he was out of view. I turned my attention to Glenn as I pulled him to where I left the diaper bag and gas canister. It was full now the car on empty, I picked up the bag and showed Glenn. "This stuff is great Daryl, I'll go store it with are things in the R.V." Glenn said as he moved off. But not before he kissed me long and hard.

I leaned against the car as I watched the sun set, I could hear the sobs from Carol but it had dimmed as I tried to tune her out. "Daryl, here." I snapped my head up when I heard Glenn so close to me, I hadn't even realized I'd closed my eyes until then. Glenn was handing me a bottle of water which I took gratefully as I chugged the whole thing in one go, I was so thirsty.

Glenn looked around and then took my hand and led me further from the group, it was one of those days when I let Glenn take the lead in our relationship. One of the cars was a pretty big, mostly empty SUV; Glenn opened the back and had me get in on the bench seat. I leaned against the other door as he crawled in after me he left the door open to give himself a little more room to move.

Glenn knelt between my legs; I had one on the bench seat the other hanging off with my foot on the floor. Glenn reached for my pants and started to take off my belt, then unbuttoned and unzipped them before pulling, I lifted up some off the seat, my boots went with my pants leaving me in my boxers and shirt.

I didn't say anything as Glenn pulled at my boxers, again I lifted; I wasn't up to doing much, more worn out from the emotions of the day than anything else. But Glenn seemed to know exactly what I needed. He pulled out a rag and used another bottle of water to wet it, which he then ran over my face, down my chest as he unbuttoned my shirt. As he got to my waist he wet the rag and rung it out before continuing. This wouldn't be the first time he bathed me like this, at some point it becomes a ritual between us to help us connect, when either of us or both have a stressful day.

Once he cleaned me up he rung out the rag and set it on the floor near where my foot was resting before he moved and kissed me, I deepened the kiss as I tasted his mouth, and enjoyed the small tongue battle before I let him win. When he pulled back he said. "I love you, Daryl."

I didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, Glenn continued. "I know you can't say the words yet, I know you have a hard time believing that I love you, so I'm going to continue to say it until you can say it back, and then I'll know that you believe that someone in this world loves you Daryl Dixon." He kissed me again before moving down to my hardening cock.

He started at the root with his tongue, just small licks, until I was fully hard, I moaned as he lavished attention to my aching member. Then as he licked the tip he opened his mouth and engulfed me fully, right passed his gag reflex, he's clearly had experience. That made me a tad bit jealous, that I wasn't the first, but I got passed that as I moaned when he started to suck.

He would suck; then lick, he'd pull off only to engulf me again, he moaned a couple of times sending vibrations through me. Each time I would get close to coming he'd pull off, for several minutes he'd do that until I finally ground out. "Glenn fuckin' stop the teasin'." He smirked; I saw it in his eyes as he looked at me. But did as I requested, he sucked hard, seconds later I fell over the edge into his moist warm heat, with a cry of ecstasy. He swallowed not letting a drop get away, he licked me clean before he pulled away, then with his help I got dressed in some fresh clothes he had gotten that I hadn't noticed until then. He must've placed them there when I'd been trying to tune Carol out. I rested a few minutes before Glenn pulled me up and we went back to the group.

He slept; I didn't, not much anyways. I kept watch for most the night, Shane did relieve me a good three hours before sun up then it was time to gear up and head back out to look for Sophia again.

Once we were all gathered T-Dog included, Rick unrolled a black tool bag filled with knives and other sharp objects on top of the trunk of one of the cars. Dale informed us that Carl found it yesterday while we were looking for Sophia, well it was about to come in handy.

"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick said as he picked up his hat. I was standing next to him with my bow on my back as I looked at them.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need." Andrea said on the other side of the car. "What about the guns?" She asked.

"We've been over that." Shane said from his position against the R.V. next to T-Dog. Lori stepped up to the weapons and looked through them, Carl was right behind her, she picked a knife; all the weapons were sheathed so I don't know which blade she picked as she walked off. "Daryl, Rick and I are carrying." Shane continued. "We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles." Glenn came up next to pick a blade, then stepped to the side and unsheathed it, while we continued to discuss the gun issue with Andrea.

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea said adamantly.

I was watching Glenn as he looked at the blade he picked; it had a curved end with a sharp point that faced the wilder.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane finished as he slung his pack on his back while Glenn sheathed his weapon.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark." I instructed once the gun matter had been settled. I walked passed Rick to where Glenn was packing his stuff.

"Stay quiet, and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." Rick finished and walked over to Dale who was sitting on the steps into his R.V.

"Everybody assemble your packs." Shane said.

"Dale, keep on those repairs. We've got to get this R.V. ready to move." Rick told him. I grabbed leaned against a truck as Glenn put food and water battles in his pack.

"We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to. Good luck out there, bring Sophia back." Dale told Rick.

"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone." Rick requested of Dale.

"I'm going with you." Carl said. "You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible." He reasoned with his father. Rick groaned as he looked at his wife. I looked back down at Glenn as he fished packing up, I wasn't sure I wanted Glenn to go but he was a grown man, I wasn't gonna tell him what to do. Not yet at least.

Lori looked back at Rick as she spoke. "Your call, I can't always be the bad guy."

Dale spoke up next. "Well, he has all of you to look after him. I'd say he's in good hands."

Rick sighed as he relented. "Okay, okay." He placed his hand on Carl's shoulder as he told him. "But always within our sight, no exceptions." Rick walked off to get his stuff. I noticed Dale wink at Carl before they smiled at each other, and then Carl went with his mother.

I turned my back then as I loaded my bow with as many arrows as it could hold, but I did hear Dale talk to Andrea. "Andrea, I'm begging you, don't put me in this position."

"I'm not going out there without my gun. I'll even say please."

"I'm doing this for you."

"No, Dale, you're doing it for you, you need to stop. What do you think's gonna happen? I'm gonna stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger the moment you hand it to me?" Rick noticed the conversation going on as he turned to watch them, he put his hat back on while he surveyed but didn't but in.

"I know you're angry at me. That much is clear." Shane was watching as well, he was holding his shotgun against his shoulder as he stood there, Dale continued. "But if I hadn't done what I did, you'd be dead now."

"Jenner gave us an option, I chose to stay."

"You chose suicide."

"So what's that to you? You barely know me."

"I know Amy's death devastated you."

"Keep her out of this. This is not about Amy, this is about us." The rest of the group was watching and listening as Andrea raised her voice. "And if I decided that I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise? To force my hand like that?"

"I saved your life."

"No, Dale. I saved yours, you forced that on me. I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect? What, I'd have some kind of epiphany? Some life-affirming catharsis?"

"Maybe just a little gratitude."

"Gratitude? I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks. That was my choice. You took that away from me, Dale."

"But—"

"But you know better? All I wanted after my sister died was to get out of this endless horrific nightmare we live every day. I wasn't hurting anyone else. You took my choice away, Dale. And you expect gratitude?" A tear slipped down her cheek as she finished her admission.

"I don't know what to say."

"I'm not your little girl, I'm not your wife, and I am sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say." She then walked passed Dale, who looked devastated as he watched her go.

I walked after her the rest following as we headed back out into the woods to find Sophia. I'll tell you this right now, back then I agreed with Andrea, it was her life and her choice to die. These days, I would agree with Dale, life is what keeps us human, their choice or not, death isn't the answer, it's just a way out.

T-Dog stayed with Dale, the rest of us, Carl included headed out to find Sophia. No matter how hard I try I can't forget those grueling days before we found her, and after.

As we got to the woods I took point the rest following me in this order. Rick, Andrea, Carol, Glenn who'd left his cap behind I noticed, Carl, Lori and Shane took up the rear.

I slowed my pace as I saw a camp site ahead of us. There was a tent; it was a sickly color green and tan. I pointed at Rick then the tent; I crouched down as he turned and stopped the rest of them before crouching next to me. Carol and Andrea followed suit, Glenn was behind them and Shane had walked up next to Glenn, Lori and Carl taking the rear.

"She could be in there." Shane said quietly.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." I whispered as I moved forward keeping my bow at the ready and going slow. Rick followed, the rest were going to, but he stopped them, we didn't need all of them crowding us, the fewer the easier to keep out of sight should there be walkers around.

Shane followed, but he was trained so that was okay, I didn't really have an opinion on Shane, just so you know I wasn't blind of the tension between him and Lori, Rick might have been, but I knew what was going on, they had been giving off signs similar to myself and Glenn days before Rick left my brother on that roof. So I didn't have anything to say about him, or his tactics as long as I took care of my own and he didn't cause any problems with that I didn't give two shits what he did.

I crept up to the camp, while keeping an eye out for walkers. We got around the trees until the tent was straight ahead. I looked back at Rick and Shane; I made a signal for them to wait while I checked it out. I pulled out my hunting knife I had cleaned while keeping watch last night and headed to the tent flap.

I set my bow down on the ground before I reached out with my now free hand as I looked through the small slit in the flap, I walked to one of the edges and moved it slightly out of the way to see inside without making myself a target. I saw a figure in there but it wasn't moving. I turned to Rick and Shane and shrugged as I moved back to the flap.

Rick turned and motioned as he whispered. "Carol." She rushed to him. They walked a few more paces to the tent, Rick instructed her. "Call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear." The rest were coming up behind Shane.

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?" I stayed at the flap waiting in case it wasn't Sophia but a walker instead. "Sophia, its mommy. Sophia, we're all here, baby. It's mommy." Rick and Shane walked up closer as I started to unzip the rest of the flap slowly.

Rick gripped his gun with both hands, ready to use it as I moved my hand to the pull the flap back. I coughed into my arm as the smell hit me, there in the middle of the tent was a lawn chair with a body in it. I walked in and around to get a better look, Rick backed off as he coughed and gaged, letting the flap close. The guy's been there a while; there were maggots and warms making a feast out of his face.

I could hear both Rick and Shane coughing outside. "Daryl?" Lori called. I looked and saw a pistol in the guy's lax hand. I grabbed it by the grip frame and pulled it free; it looked like a six shooter. I stuck it in the back of my pants before I exited the tent.

"It ain't her." I informed them.

"What's in there?" Lori asked.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said and opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" I picked up my bow and slung it on my shoulder. Suddenly the sound of church bells ringing filled the silence. We looked around then Rick headed off the rest of us followed at a quicker pace than before.

He slowed down at a small clearing. "What direction?" Shane asked.

"I think that way, I'm pretty sure." Rick said pointing off in the distance.

"Damn it's hard to tell out here." Shane said the sound was reverberating off the trees and echoing in all directions, making it difficult, even with my enhanced hearing to pinpoint its exact location.

"If we heard them maybe Sophia did too." Carol said with hope in her voice. Hope was the best and worst thing for Carol to have at that point in time.

"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others." Glenn suggested.

"Or signaling they found her." Andrea theorized.

"She could be ringing them herself." Rick said next. "Come on." Rick picked up the pace, we followed after him.

It was several minutes after the bells stopped ringing that we arrived at a cemetery, there was a white building in the center; it looked like a church.

"That can't be it, got no steeple, no bells." Shane said which made us doubt it being our ringing church. "Rick." Shane called as Rick started running toward the building, we were just seconds behind. We ran passed tomb stones that had a people's names and timelines, from birth to death carved into them.

We got to the building; Rick led the way to the front entrance. He ran up the steps to the big red double doors. I was right next to him standing across from him, bow gripped firmly in my hand, he motioned for everyone to be silent as he and I opened the doors slowly.

It was a small church with two sets of pews an isle between 'em. At the end was a cross with Jesus nailed to it. There were three walkers sitting in a few of the pews as we looked in. There were hanging chandeliers that served as light, I also noticed crosses and pictures on the walls between the stain glassed windows and there was a back door, and one side to door to the left of us.

The doors banged against the walls alerting the walkers to our presence, two of them were once men and the third was a woman who had a veil over her face, before she died I guess she was going to be married, that's what I gathered from the attire she was dressed in.

They started to snarl at us, I had my bow raised. Shane and Rick were next to me when Glenn walked up to us with the women not far behind. The walkers started to stand, one looked like a pretty big guy, a little bit like a quarter back. Rick holstered his gun then he reached back and Lori handed him her blade.

He headed for the big guy; I turned and took the blade from Glenn who grabbed my bow as I handed it to him. Then headed around to the would be bride. Rick pulled his arm back and with a grunt slammed the long straight knife into the guy's forehead, when he pulled it out the guy dropped he slashed him several times.

Shane went for the other guy, with a blade that could've be deemed a short sword as he aimed it and stuck it right through the guy's temple before pulling it out, the guy dropped.

I came around the other end near the wall to the woman; she had her attention on Shane, until I made some kissing sounds. When she turned to me I slashed her across the face taking half her cheek and jaw, she dropped as I backed away from her. I looked up and saw Shane still going at his walker, just like Rick. Finally they both stopped, Rick was panting for breath as he looked at the crucifix right behind the pulpit.

The rest started to file into the church; Glenn was still at the door my crossbow gripped firmly in his hands. I headed up the main walkway as Rick shouted. "SOPHIA!" He opened the side door and looked out while I stopped in front of the crucified Christ.

"Yo, J.C., you taking requests?" I asked. I can't say I was a believer, I wasn't then, I might be now, can't say for sure. But I figured hell it was worth shot if the big guy did exist. Who was I to say he didn't to those who believed. I turned my back on him and headed to the rest of the group near the doors.

"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church, it's got no steeple, Rick. There's not steeple" Shane said adamantly. A few seconds later the bell started ringing again, it was close, I'm talking right outside the walls close.

I ran for the doors the group moving aside to let me pass, Rick, Shane and the rest followed as I led the way around to the side of the building. I looked up when I stopped, I saw connected to the building something that looked like a bull horn but was smaller and hooked up to some system that was making the ringing noise.

Glenn walked up to a small box, which he opened, and then pulled out the battery that made it work, the noise stopped. "A timer, it's on a timer." I told the group as I panted from my sudden sprint.

"I'm gonna go back in for a bit." Carol said as she headed back inside the church. Most of us myself included went inside with Carol. Andrea, Shane and Lori stayed outside, I could hear Lori and Shane speaking, I wasn't eavesdropping as I tuned them out, I was starting to get pretty good at that, Lori came a minute or so later she walked up to Carol who was kneeling at the pulpit looking up at Christ, Lori sat on the pew right behind her.

"Father, forgive me. I don't deserve your mercy." Carol started. "I prayed for safe passage from Atlanta and you provided. I prayed for Ed to be punished for laying his hands on me and for looking at his own daughter with whatever sickness was growing in his soul. I prayed you'd put a stop to it." Rick and Carl were against the wall on the right side of the door just watching. I was to the left of the door keeping my hands gripped to the strap that held my crossbow on my back.

There was nothing we could do for her as she continued. "Give me a chance to raise her right, help her not make my mistakes. She's so fearful. She's so young in her way." Glenn walked over to me as Carol was getting to him. I put my arm around his shoulder and held him close; he placed a hand on his belly while his other arm wound around my waist.

"She hasn't had a chance. Praying for Ed's death was a sin. Please, don't let this be my punishment, let her be safe, alive and safe. Please, Lord. Punish me however you want, but show mercy on her." Tears started to fall down Carol's face. She stood and looked at Lori who held out her hand to her. Carol walked to her and sat next to Lori as she cried. Lori kissed her head and held her hand trying to comfort her the only way she could.

For a few minutes we just stood there, finally Carol stood up and headed out, we followed, I let Glenn go as we joined the rest near a shaded tree. I saw Andrea and Shane headed to us, they were talking; I tuned them out as I focused on Glenn and the rest as we tried to figure out where to search next.

I did tune in when Shane walked over to where Rick was standing. "Got to move here, man." He said as he stopped next to him. "These people are spent. There's only so many hours of daylight left, we still got a long way back."

"I can't stop, not yet." Rick told him.

"We still got a lot of ground to cover, whole other side of the creek bed. So we search that one the way back." Shane suggested.

"She would have heard those church bells she could be nearby." Rick said as he looked off into the distance.

"She could be a lot of things."

"I can't go back. Her being out here is my fault."

"That's great. Now they got you doubting yourself, huh?" The rest couldn't hear what was being said, but I could.

They continued talking. "What about you? You doubt me?" Rick asked.

"Hey, we can assign all kinds of blame."

"This means something, finding her." Rick got closer to Shane.

"Oh man."

"It would be the miracle we need we can't give up." Shane sighed as he gave into what Rick needed; he tapped Rick's shoulder before heading back to us, Shane addressed us as he stopped.

"Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough." Shane told us. Lori stood up put her pack back on, Rick walked up next to Shane then as well.

"You're splitting us up, you sure?" I asked, I didn't like the idea of us being separated, bad things happen when we separate. Like the whole reason Sophia got lost in the first place.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane told us.

"I want to stay too." Carl said. "I'm her friend." He explained.

The guys didn't speak so his mother did. "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will."

"When did you start growing up?" Lori asked as she hugged him. Rick walked up to them and kissed her before hugging her. The rest of us were grabbing our packs and things while they were saying goodbye.

"I'll be along soon enough." Rick told Lori. After he pulled away he tried handing her his pistol. "Here, take this. Remember how to use it?" He asked.

"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed." Lori told him.

I pulled out that small six shooter from dead guy's tent and walked up to her. "Here, got a spare, take it." I looked at Rick and nodded as Lori took it. It was the start of our trust, like I had said three days ago, I'd forgiven him, that hadn't been a lie; I just didn't trust him yet. But he was starting to trust me, and in the end we'd trust each other with our lives and families, just not then.

I led the way as Glenn, Carol, Lori, and Andrea who reluctantly followed. Shane, Rick and Carl headed in the opposite direction; I wish I had gone with my gut instinct. Us splitting up had been a bad idea, what happened over the next several days, and weeks will forever haunt us. We just had no idea how bad it was going to get.

A/N: From the moment the group split up will be the start of the next chapter, from Rick's POV, the stuff that happens in the woods with Daryl's group will be put in as a missing scene for the second episode. The story was really long and it seemed like a good place to stop for the chapter, before Rick prays and Carl gets shot, which goes into the second episode, so instead of splitting that part up in missing scenes I'd just play it all through with Rick's POV, next chapter. Sorry that the first chapter _was_ so long, it will probably be the longest chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it and will come back for the rest of the season. Please read and review. I will be posting the missing scenes for season two episode one by the end of this week or next. Thanks to all who have put this series as a favorite, or follow or reviewed.


	2. Bloodletting

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or show, I'm just having a lot of fun with them.

POV: Rick

Warnings: Violence, Blood and Gore, and Bad Language.

Bloodletting

As Daryl's group headed back into the woods to check the other side of the creek I walked over to Shane. "Give me a minute?" I asked. We were going to check the other direction hoping that Sophia will be around here somewhere after having heard the church bells.

"Yeah." Shane said as he put his hand on Carl's shoulder, leading him to the stairs of the church where they sat, while I went inside and stood before the cross of Jesus.

"I don't know if you're looking at me with what?" I sighed as I tilted my head as I continued.

"Sadness?"

"Scorn?"

"Pity?"

_"Love_?" I sighed again.

"Maybe it's just indifference." I reached up then and took off my hat as I looked at the ground.

"I guess you already know I'm not much of a believer. I guess I just chose to put my faith elsewhere. My family, mostly. My friends…my job." I rubbed my eyes as I put my foot on the stool where most would kneel at this point. I placed my hand on it as I leaned in then went on.

"The thing is, we—I could use a little something to help keep us going. Some kind of…acknowledgement." I looked back up at Him. "Some indication I'm doing the right thing. You don't know how hard that is to know." I shook my head in despair at His silence.

"Well, maybe you do." I put my hat back on and started walking away. But I turned and went back to Him. "Hey look, I don't need all the answers. Just a little nudge, a sign." There was frustration in my voice. "Any sign will do." I waited a few seconds.

I walked out to the steps where Shane and Carl were sitting quietly, waiting for me. Carl looked up at me as I came down the stairs. I ruffled his hair as Shane asked. "Get what you needed?"

"Guess I'll find out." I started towards the other side of the woods. Shane got up with Carl, grabbing his shot gun and pack.

"Come on." He told Carl as they followed behind.

It was silent for a while as we walked, neither Shane or myself said a word, Carl followed our leading. So when some branches snapped I halted them with a raised hand. Shane grabbed Carl's arm to keep him close should the need to run arose. There was some more rustling, I pointed to a direction ahead of us on the left, I started moving slowly hands on my pistol, Shane had Carl stay back some as he walked next to me.

Through the trees I saw a brown deer, male as far as I could tell 'cause of the antlers. Shane lowered his gun as the deer came out from behind the tress and bush's, he was beautiful, a light brown color, the sun glinted off of his coat.

He shook himself as his ears perked up listening for anything that would signal a threat. He licked his lips as Shane aimed his gun at him.

"Shane." I called softly; Shane looked at me, then at Carl who had never seen a deer, a live one that is up close. Shane lowered his gun as Carl walked up closer to the buck. He had this grin on his face; the buck didn't pay any mind to us as he bent his head to the ground and started eating the grass in the clearing.

Carl looked back at me and Shane, we both nodded for him to go ahead. Deer's aren't dangerous animals, but we kept back and our weapons down, not wanting to make the deer feel threatened. There was a sudden snap the buck's head came up and jerked around looking for the possible threat, his ears twitched as he looked at my son, he didn't run or make any movement besides the small ear twitch as Carl got closer to him. It was wonderful, for my son to finally get to see some true beauty in this world, unfortunately it didn't last long.

A gunshot filled the silence as both the stag and my boy fell to the ground. It felt like slow motion by the shock at seeing Carl fall and the realization that he'd just been shot. I screamed. "No, no, no, no, NO!" I ran to him Shane right by me as I fell to my knees next to my son. I got a sense of déjà vu as I placed my hand on his chest while Shane aimed his gun and looked for the one that had shot my son.

This couldn't be happening is what my mind continued to chant over and over again as the man with the riffle came into view. "Oh God, what did I do." Was his shocked whisper, but I couldn't pay attention to their conversation as I placed my hand on Carl's lower right abdomen where the bullet entered.

"Rick, this guy says there's a doctor on a farm not far from here." I looked at him; then picked up my son.

"Take me." I ordered the guy who had a riffle in his hands.

He turned and led us out of the woods into a grassy field as I ran ahead holding Carl close. At some point during getting shot and being picked up he'd lost consciousness, so he was dead weight in my arms as I ran. It wasn't hard to hold on to him, I just wished I could run as fast as Glenn. Shane was close behind shot gun in hand. I wasn't wasting any time as I sprinted as fast as my legs would carry me, that's what made me tired, holding my son was nothing, the running was shear exhausting.

"Hey, you move shithead." Shane yelled at the man, he was overweight and had fallen behind. "Come get us there." Shane ordered as he pulled the man along.

I turned to him. "How far? How Far?!" I asked, screamed at him, I was pissed at him and terrified I was going to lose my son.

He threw his arm out and pointed as he told us. "Another half mile that way." I turned and ran as he continued to scream at me. "Hershel. Talk to Hershel he'll help your boy."

I looked back only once to see Shane pull the man off the ground with ease and tell him. "Let's go. Come on!" The man had been apologizing the whole way he continued to do so as Shane got him moving again.

I didn't look back again as I kept begging whoever was listening not to let my boy die. I was trying to hold it together, but the tears wouldn't obey as fear gripped my heart and I gritted my teeth as I panted and ran trying not to lose it. I had to get my son to Hershel, he'll save him; I just have to get him there. That's all.

I slowed as I finally saw the farm house, which meant I was that much closer to saving my son's life. I shifted Carl in a better hold and used the last ounce of super-strength I had in my legs to run the rest of the way.

As I got near I heard a young woman scream from the porch. "DAD!"

Their door slammed open as five people walked out, three young women, a young man who was armed with a bat, and an older man. I raced closer to their porch and the older man asked me a very important question. "Was he bit?"

"Shot." I told him as I slowed my pace to a crawl as I got closer to where they were standing. "By your man."

One of the young women asked. "Otis?" The older man ran down the porch to me and my boy.

"He said find Hershel is that you?" I asked as the rest followed him. "Help me, help my boy." I begged fear and pain and sorrow were in my voice.

"Get him inside." He told me.

As they headed inside he started rolling up his sleeves and issued orders. "Patricia, I need my full kit." The young woman who spoke earlier rushed off to get it. "Maggie."

"Yeah." Said the young red head.

"Painkillers, coagulates—grab everything."

"Okay." Was her reply as she rushed to get what was asked.

"Clean towels, sheets, alcohol." He led me to a back bedroom on the first floor as he continued to tell his people what to do. He tossed back the covers. "In here." He said as he turned to me. I laid Carl as gently as I could on the bed.

"Pillowcase." He ordered me.

"Is he alive?" I asked him.

"Pillowcase, quick." He said again as he took off Carl's belt and lifted his shirt.

"Is he alive?" I asked a second time as I grabbed a pillow and started removing the case.

The three women, Patricia, Maggie and I had yet to get the third ones name had arrived with the wanted things at the end of the bed.

"Fold it, make a pad." He instructed of the pillowcase. "Put pressure on the wound." I placed it on his abdomen and pushed down gently keeping control of how much strength I used. Hershel turned as Patricia handed him a stethoscope, which he put in his ear and placed it on Carl's chest. His other hand at Carl's neck looking for a pulse.

"I've got a heartbeat its faint." Hershel said.

"I got it, step back." Patricia told me. I released the pressure and she took my place.

"Maggie, I.V."

"We need some space." The red head Maggie told me, I didn't move.

"Your name?" Hershel asked.

"Rick." I said.

"Rick?" Hershel asked.

"I'm—I'm Rick."

"Rick we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to get us some room." He said as he looked at me while Patricia was holding the pillowcase to my son. I was still hesitant. "Now." I slowly backed up as Maggie started an I.V. drip.

I was against the wall when I heard Shane. "Move!" I looked out the window and saw him with their man Otis. You could say I was in shock, I won't deny that when I left that room with all them working on my son I was scared, unsure of what was going on. My world was crashing around me and there was nothing I could do about it. Just another failure to go on my list of short comings lately, unable to protect my son, my own flesh and blood from being shot. Daryl had been right; we never should've split up.

I walked outside, the screen door squeaking, its hinges needed oil. It slammed shut as Shane walked up to me. I took off my hat as Otis asked. "He's alive? He's still alive?" I didn't answer as I rubbed the back of my hand on my forehead leaving a streak of blood.

"Hey…" Shane said as he walked up the porch and stopped right in front of me. He pulled his pack off and started rummaging in it as he said. "Okay…It's okay." He took out a rag and started wiping the blood off of my face. I started to pull away but Shane explained. "You got blood, man."

Once my face was cleaned he placed the rag in my hands. "Okay." He said as I started to wipe my blood covered hands on it. I had tears in my eyes as I looked at Shane. "I'll take it from you." He told me as he held my hat while I kept the rag.

"Where is he?" Shane asked before I turned to go back inside. "Where is he? Is he okay?" I just knew that if I tried to speak it'd be too much for me and I'd break down and loose it, I'd just loose it. So I didn't speak, I led Shane and Otis to the room where Hershel was working on my son.

There was a kit open on the bed with scalpel and sutures and other things. The I.V. bag had been set up and was dripping into my son as Hershel sat on a chair using a white cloth on his wound. Maggie and Patricia were now the only other two in there with him.

He spoke as we stopped next to him. "You know his blood type?"

"A-positive, same as mine." I told him trying to keep my voice steady.

He looked at me. "That's fortunate. Don't wander far I'm gonna need you." He told me. "What happened?" He asked Otis.

"I was tracking a buck. Bullet went through it, went clean through." Otis explained.

"The deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life. But it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces, if I can get the bullet fragments out…and I'm counting six." Otis walked passed us as Hershel explained, he stopped at Patricia.

"I never saw him, not until he was on the ground." Otis told her. She hugged him sympathetically.

I looked to Shane. "Lori doesn't know?"

"No…" Shane said trying to calm me down.

"My wife doesn't know. My wife doesn't know." I repeated as Shane put his arm around my shoulders and whispered in my ear. I started to cry then; I put my hand over my eyes and sobbed, as Shane tried to comfort me.

Shane guided me out of the room, Maggie closed the door behind us; I went to a bathroom and washed my hands and arms getting the blood off, I also unbuttoned my shirt to help me breathe a little easier. I sat next to Shane on a bench seat in the foyer as we waited. For the longest time the only sound between us was the ticking of a clock. My tears had subsided and now all we could do was wait, I kept thinking of Lori and how I was going to tell her, but how do you tell a mother that her child was just shot.

I broke the silence as I asked Shane. "Why'd I let him come with us? I should have sent him with Lori." I was blaming myself; it was my fault and I knew it.

"You know, you start that, you'll never get that monkey off your back." Shane told me.

"Little girl goes missing, you look for her, simple. You said call it, head back."

"Doesn't matter what I said."

"Carl got shot because I wouldn't cut bait, it should be me in there."

Shane chuckled at that before he replied. "You've been there, partner. Right? And you pulled through, so will he."

"Is that why I got out of that hospital? Found my family for it to end here, like this? This some kind—kind of sick joke?" I was angry at myself at the situation it was in my voice that anger.

"Shh, shh, you stop it. Just stop."

"A little girl goes missing…you look for her, it's plain and simple." I repeated.

The bedroom door opened just then and Maggie called me. "Rick…" I stood up and walked into the room. "He needs blood." Maggie said just before she left.

Hershel was there working on Carl, he was crying in pain. Hershel looked at Shane who'd followed me in. "You, hold him down." Hershel told Shane.

"DAD!" Carl cried out in pain, he was hurting.

"I got him." Shane told Patricia who'd been holding him.

"Almost there." Hershel said, as Patricia prepared my arm for the transfusion. Carl cried out again as he dug further, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop! You're killing him!" I screamed at Hershel.

"Rick, do you what him to live?" Hershel asked.

"Dad, I brought Beth like you asked." Maggie said as she came back into the room with the third young woman from earlier. "Don't make her do this, what if it's too much?" Maggie asked.

"Beth, it's your choice, help this boy or not." Hershel told her. I looked at the girl as she moved to the bed to Shane.

"I can take it from here." She told him softly. Shane moved out of the way for her, we weren't sure what she was doing, as Patricia put a needle in my arm.

She put one hand on his chest and the other in his hand. "Look at me sweetie." Beth asked; he turned his head to her as fresh tears of pain fell down his face. "It's okay, I can take your pain, you don't need to feel it, I'm strong enough." Beth said softly, calmness came over Carl as his screaming came to a stop and so did his tears, the pain etched into his face dissipated, but it suddenly appeared on Beth as she groaned and Maggie grabbed her shoulders. She didn't let go of Carl though.

Crying filled the room again but it wasn't Carl's, it was Beth's, as she held him and Maggie kept rubbing her back. Once Patricia finished setting the needle in my arm I saw Carl close his eyes and fall asleep, he must be exhausted. Beth did the same seconds after as the pain became too much for her.

"What happened?" Shane asked.

"They've just passed out." Hershel explained. Maggie lowered Beth resting her head on a pillow next to Carl, her hand laid limp on his chest.

He pulled out a piece of the bullet and looked at it. "One down…" He dropped the piece into the small container with a clink. "Five to go." I had a feeling it was going to be a very long day for all of us. Otis then came in and picked Beth up as Hershel put a bandage on Carl's wound. With Maggie's help they left the room with Beth between them, she was just barely coming around.

I was set up with a tube in my arm, the end of the tube was placed in a glass container as my blood dripped into it, she put another tube it, which she then connected to Carl's arm so my blood could replenish what Carl had lost. The container was on a small table between my chair and the bed. I wondered if my mutation was in the blood and if it would end up transferring to my son.

After a several minutes Hershel grabbed a blood pressure cuff and his stethoscope and took Carl's blood pressure.

"Pressure's stable." Hershel said as he put the stethoscope around his neck and took the cuff off.

"Lori needs to be here." I told Shane who was near the window leaning against a fireplace mantle that was in the room. "She doesn't even know what's going on. I've got to go find her bring her back."

"You can't do that." Hershel told me as Patricia took the needle out of my arm.

"She's his mother. She needs to know what's happened; her son's lying here shot."

"And he's going to need more blood." Hershel told me then turned to Shane. "He can't go more than fifty feet from this bed." I slowly stood as Patricia finished bandaging my arm, I stumbled and she kept me from falling.

Shane walked up to me. "Hey, hey, come on." Shane said as he put his hand on my arm.

"I'm all right." I told him as I walked passed. "I'm all right." I repeated as I left the room.

"I got him." Shane told Hershel as he followed me out.

I opened the door and walked to a chair and sat down. Maggie and Otis were out there waiting; Shane closed the door behind us as he informed them of Carl's condition. "He's stable for now."

I looked at Shane from where I sat as he leaned against the wall next to the door. "Lori has to be here Shane, she has to know."

"Okay, I get that, I'm gonna handle it. But you've got to handle your end."

"My—my end?" I asked confused.

"Your end is being here for your son." Shane explained, he crouched down to eye level as he continued. "Even if he didn't need your blood to survive, there is no way I'd ever let you walk out that door. Man, I'd break your legs if you tried. I mean you know that, right?" I looked at the floor unable to reply, he went on. "If something happened to him and you weren't here…If—if he slipped away while you were gone, you would never forgive yourself for that. And neither would Lori, man."

After he finished I pressed my fingers at my eyes willing myself not to cry again, I looked at him and said. "Your right."

"When was I ever wrong?" Shane laughed a little, I tried to smile but the tears came and I couldn't.

"You know, when—when you were in that hospital, the one you were never supposed to leave, man, you should have seen Lori." Shane said, he moved next to me as the tears fell, he continued. "She was like…the strength of that woman…you can't imagine it." He placed his hand on my shoulder. "See—see that's what you've got to have now, not the physical strength 'cause you have that, but the emotional. I mean, Carl—he needs that from you. So you wire yourself tight, my friend. You hear?"

He put his hands on my head as I leaned my forehead against his. I put my hand on his head as he continued. "You've got the hard part, just leave the rest to me, okay?"

"All right."

"All right." The door opened then and Hershel came out, all four of us stood up.

"He's out of danger for the moment. But I need to remove those remaining fragments."

"How? You saw how he was, Beth's still sleeping." I said.

"I know, and that was the shallowest one. I need to go deeper to get the others."

"Oh man." Shane said.

"There's more."

"Tell me." I needed to know.

"His belly is distended his pressure is dropping, which means there's internal bleeding. A fragment must have nicked one of the blood vessels." Hershel took a deep breath before he continued. "I have to open him up, find the bleeder and stitch it. And he can't move while I'm in there—I mean, at all. If he reacts the same as before, I'll sever an artery and he'll be dead in minutes. To even try this, I have to put him under. But if I do, he won't be able to breathe on his own. Same bad results."

"What'll it take?" I asked him.

"You need a respirator." Otis told us. "What else?" He asked Hershel.

"The tube that goes with it, extra surgical supplies, drapes, sutures."

"If you had all that you could save him?" I asked.

"If I had all that I could try."

"Nearest hospital went up in flames a month ago." Otis said, and then something came to his mind. "The high school."

"That's what I was thinking." Hershel said then explained. "They set up a FEMA shelter there. They would have everything we need."

"Place was overrun last time I saw it. You couldn't get near it, maybe it's better now." Otis said.

"I said, leave the rest to me. Is it too late to take that back?" Shane joked.

"I hate you going alone." I told him seriously.

"Come on. Doc, why don't you do me a list and draw me a map?" Shane requested.

"You won't need a map, I'll take you there. Ain't but five miles." Otis told him.

"Otis, no." Patricia said as she'd joined our talk from the entrance to the bedroom where Carl was resting.

"Honey, we don't have time for guesswork and I'm responsible. I ain't gonna sit here while this fella takes this on alone." He said pointing to Shane. "I'll be all right." He told her.

"Are you sure about this?" Shane asked.

"Do you even know what any of the stuff he's talking about looks like?" Otis asked.

"Come to think, no."

"I've been a volunteer E.M.T. I do. We can talk about this till next Sunday or we could just go do it right quick."

"I'll take right quick."

"I should thank you." I told Otis.

"Wait till that boy of yours is up and around. Then we'll talk, I'll gather some things." Otis finished then walked off to get his stuff.

Maggie walked up to me then. "Where is she, your wife?" I told her to go the church, she knew where I was talking about and explained which side of the creek to follow and she should find them along somewhere up there, unless they went back to the highway, which I also explained, about the traffic jam.

"I'll find her and bring her back." She promised, then left, I watched her go to a stable and ride off on a horse shortly before Otis got back with his pack and riffle. We followed him out to a blue pickup.

I put my hand on Shane's arm as I told him. "Just get what you need, and get out of there."

"You stay strong, all right?" Shane asked.

Otis hugged Patricia telling her he'll be okay. I walked up to him and held out my pistil handle first for him to take. He looked at it, then Hershel, then me as he said. "That's a fine weapon, Rick. I'll bring it back in good shape." He took it placing it in his pack at the back of the pickup as Shane tapped the truck.

Otis grabbed his riffle and walked to the driver's side as Shane got in, then he placed the riffle between him before he closed the door and started the engine up. I watched them outside as Shane looked at the riffle the very gun that had caused this mess in the first place.

"Only one I got." Otis explained.

"Man, this turned into one strange day." Shane said as Otis put it into gear.

"Didn't it though?" Otis said as they pulled out onto the dirt road and off into the distance. Patricia shook her head as she headed back inside leaving me and Hershel out there to watch them disappear.

Hershel put his hand on my good arm a couple of minutes later as he said. "Let's check on your boy." I followed him back inside.

After a while I walked outside, along the porch and stopped as I looked out at the acres and the coming sunset. Hershel joined me a few seconds later, as he stood next to me I spoke. "This place is beautiful."

"Been in my family a hundred and sixty years."

"I can't believe how serene it is." I looked at him as I continued. "How untouched, you're lucky"

"We weren't completely unscathed." He looked out at the pastures before going on. "We lost friends, neighbors. The epidemic took my wife, my stepson."

All I could say to that was. "I'm sorry."

"My daughters were spared. I'm grateful to God for that. These people here, all we've got left is each other, just hoping we can ride it out in peace till there's a cure."

I faced him then to explain things. "We were at the C.D.C. it's—it's gone now. There is no cure."

"I don't believe it. When AIDS came along everyone panicked. One boy in town came down with it and some parents pulled their children from school so they didn't have to sit in the same room."

"This is a whole other thing."

"That's what we always say—'this one's different'"

"Well, this one is."

He smiled at me as he explained his way of thinking on this matter. "Mankind's been fighting plagues from the start, we get our behinds kicked for a while then we bounce back. It's nature correcting herself, restoring some balance."

"I wish I could believe that." I looked back at the pasture and sunset, that's when I saw a horse galloping in the distance. The closer they go the easier I could see it was Maggie and Lori. I rushed off the porch as Maggie slowed the horse to a trot.

Lori got off the horse, she didn't say a word, neither did I, she did break down and cry as I hugged her. I needed to hold her to feel her, to know that I wasn't alone in this anymore. We reluctantly let go as she begged to see Carl. I kept my arm around her as I lead her to the house.

As we stopped in the door way to where Carl was laying, she was shocked and scared, it was written all over her face. "I'm sorry." I told her as I held her close and kissed her head.

She pushed away from me and got on the bed next to our sleeping son, she put her hands on his head. "He's not in any pain." I told her.

"Painkillers?" She asked.

"No, one of the girls here Beth, took his pain from him." She looked at me in disbelief. "A mutation." I told her, she nodded her head then laid next to Carl placing her hand on his chest where Beth's had been a few hours ago.

"My boy. My baby boy, baby boy." She whispered as her tears fell. "It's okay. Mama's here, mama's here." Lori repeated as I walked up to her not interrupting, just watching.

"You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay." She swallowed hard. "We're gonna make you okay." She reached back then and I took her hand in mine. I placed my other hand on her leg as I knelt down, I grasped her hand in both mine as I came to rest next to her, as she laid there with Carl crying.

After our tears stopped and Patricia had come back setting up another transfusion that gave me the time to fill Lori in on all that had happened. When I was done explaining things, Patricia was taking the needle out. I went to stand but groaned as the whole world flipped. Lori grabbed my arm.

"Slow, slow." Lori told me, she was sitting at the end of the bed her other hand on Carl's leg. I sat back down.

"How many transfusions?" Lori asked.

"Two. Only two." I told her.

"He wanted to do the same for you when you were in the hospital. I had to talk him out of it." Lori informed me, that made me happy and proud. Carl was such a good kid, who loved his family.

A few minutes later Lori helped me up and out of the room, we walked through the foyer and passed the stairs into the dining room next to the kitchen, Hershel handed me a glass of orange juice. "Thank you." I said as I took a sip.

As I drank Lori put her hands on one of the dining chairs and said. "Okay, so I understand, when Shane gets back with this other man—"

"Otis." Hershel informed her.

"Otis. The idiot who shot my son." Lori said rather childishly, though I could see where she was coming from I had been rather angry with him at first as well.

"Ma'am, it was an accident." Hershel told her.

"I'll take that under advisement later. For now he's the idiot who shot our son."

I placed my hand over one of hers. "Lori, they're doing everything they can to make it right."

"Okay, why can't you do it now, using that woman—"

"Beth." I told her.

"Beth, why can't she take his pain away again?" Lori asked.

"She passed out the first time ma'am I don't want to subject her to that much pain and for such an extended period of time, it could kill her." Hershel explained.

"Right, so as soon as they get back you can perform this surgery?

"I'll certainly do my best."

"Okay. I mean you've done this procedure before?"

"Well, yes, in a sense."

"In a sense?"

"Honey, we don't have the luxury of shopping for a surgeon." I told her.

"No, I understand that. But I mean you're a doctor, right?" Lori asked as she put her other hand on top of the one I had on hers.

"Yes, ma'am of course. A vet."

"A veteran? A combat medic?"

"A veterinarian." We were both shocked at that, she looked at me, then back at Hershel.

"And you've done this surgery before on what? Cows? Pigs?"

I was surprised, shocked, dizzy. I pulled out a chair. "I—I have to sit." I almost fell out of the chair if Lori hadn't grabbed me in time. I did knock over the glass with what orange juice I hadn't drunk, which spilt all over the lining on the dining room table. Lori straightened me out so I wouldn't tip over again.

She stood back up once I was situated and spoke to Hershel. "Completely in over your head, aren't you?"

"Ma'am, aren't we all?"

"Pressure's dropping again. We can't wait much longer." Hershel informed us after taking Carl's blood pressure again, it was now dark and Shane and Otis had yet to come back.

"Take some more whatever he needs." I told him as I started to roll up my sleeve; I'd already taken off my sheriff deputy's shirt leaving me in my light brown undershirt. "Then I'm gonna go."

"Go? Go where?" Lori asked from where she was leaning next to the window.

I looked at her as I explained. "He said five miles; they should be long back by now. Something's gone wrong."

"Are you insane? You're not going after them." Lori told me.

"Rick, listen to your wife." Hershel told me.

I glanced at him. "If they got into trouble—"

"You're in no condition to do anything about it. You've given too much blood; you're barely on your feet. You wouldn't make it across the yard." Hershel said.

"If something happened, I have to go." I told Lori again.

"No, your place is here. If Shane said he'll be back, he'll be back. He's like you that way."

I got in her face as I said. "I can't just sit here."

She snapped at me then. "That's exactly what you do. If you need to pray or cry or tell God he's cruel, you go right ahead, but you're not leaving, Rick. Carl needs you—here." Her voice softened as I was silent. "And I can't do this by myself. Not this one." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I can't." She looked at Carl. "I can't." She looked back at me.

I realized she was right; she couldn't do this on her own, not this time not then. Hershel was right too I didn't have the strength to make it to the front door, I was so weak. The weakest I'd been since I woke to this nightmare, so I stayed, sat down in case they needed more blood. There was nothing more any of us could do, but wait.


	3. Save the Last One

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or show, I'm just having a lot of fun with them.

POV: Rick

Warnings: Violence, Blood and Gore, and Bad Language.

Save the Last One

"Rick just…You've got to keep your strength up." Lori told me, as I sat in a chair next to the bed Carl was lying in.

"Lori, did you…I mean, it was legendary. Did you ever hear about the time Shane stole Kingsley's car?" I asked.

"Yeah." She'd heard it before, and she was about to hear it again.

"The principal's car right out of the teacher's lot in the middle of a school day. Shane steps out of lunch and makes a beeline to Kingsley's Hyundai..." I chuckled as I remembered that day before I continued.

"Wires the ignition, peels out, drives down Dylan drive to that chicken farm out there. You've heard this before, right? So he pulls it into one of the big holding pens. Kingsley he waxed that thing every month, had the auto shop vacuum it out every week. Shane, he parks it in this huge pen with a couple of hundred Rhode Island Reds. He busts open bags of seed in the back seat, rolls down all the windows, and then starts sprinting back to school. Its three miles away easy. He's back in time to finish his sandwich before the bell. And then the bell rings. Shane gets up and when he runs into Kinsley in the hallway he looks out the window and says, 'Principal Kingsley, your Coupe's gone.'" I chuckled some more. Lori was sitting on the bed next to Carl holding his hand; it'd been a while now since she blew up at me.

Hershel had come in a little while ago with a sandwich and glass of milk for me, told me I needed to eat to keep up my strength, but I had yet to touch it. "Coupe, like chicken coop." I explained.

"I get it." She told me.

"Of course you do. You've heard this story a thousand times. What you said before, you're right. Shane's gonna make it back with what the doctor needs. He'll make it back."

"Hershel said you need to eat." Lori reminded him.

"Carl's gonna be all right." I told her.

She looked at me then as she begged. "Please, for me. You've got to keep your strength up." I leaned back in the chair and reached for the plate on the nightstand. I ate as she sat there, holding Carl's hand between hers.

Hershel was just finishing taking Carl's blood pressure a little while after I finished eating when T-Dog and Glenn arrived. Patricia was sitting in a chair near the window as Lori and I sat next to Carl. I looked up as Glenn took off his hat, scratched his head and said. "Hey."

"Hey." I said back. Hershel stood up as he looked at them, I noticed T-Dog wrapped in a blanket next to Glenn as they stood there, Maggie was leaning against the door jam.

"Um, we're here, okay?" Glenn said.

"Thank you." Lori replied for me as I looked back at Carl who was still sound asleep.

"Whatever you need." T-Dog told us, Maggie then led them away, probably to get something to eat.

Hershel turned down the sheet uncovering Carl's wound; his belly was distended, indicating the internal damage. "They don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make." Hershel said.

"And that is?" I asked.

"Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator."

"You said that wouldn't work." Lori reminded him.

"I_ know_. It's extremely unlikely, but we can't wait much longer."

Lori stood up and walked out, I followed slowly as Hershel covered Carl back up, and he sat down on the bed next to Carl as I left the room.

I walked out the screen door onto the porch where Lori was standing to the left staring out into the pitch black darkness our world had become. She was hugging herself as I walked up to her, she spoke up. "Maybe this isn't a world for children anymore."

"Yeah well, we have a child." Her comment made me think of Carl, as well as Daryl and Glenn's unborn child, I continued. "Carl is here in this world now."

"Maybe he shouldn't be. Maybe this is how it's supposed to be." Lori glanced at me.

"You can't mean that." She looked at me fully then, there was this look, that she was dead serious. "Okay, all right. I can understand that thought crossing your mind."

She shook her head as she explained. "It didn't cross my mind, Rick. I can't stop thinking it. Why do we want Carl to live in this world? To have this life? So he can see more people torn apart in front of him? So that he can be hungry and scared for however long he has before he…So he can run and run and run and run and then even if he survives he ends up—he ends up just another animal who doesn't know anything except survival? If he—if he dies tonight, it ends for him." I turned away from her as she put her hand to her mouth.

"Tell me why it would be better another way?" She asked to my back.

"What changed?" I asked as I faced her.

"What?"

"Jenner offered us a way out. You asked him to let us keep trying, you begged him. 'For as long as we can' you said. What changed?" I reminded her.

"There was a moment the other day—it was just a second but I forgot Jacqui was dead. I turned around; I wanted to tell her something. I almost said her name, it was just a second and then I remembered. But then I realized she didn't have to see any of it." There was nothing I could say to that, Lori continued. "The highway, the herds, Sophia, Carl getting shot—she didn't…She doesn't have to be afraid anymore."

"Hungry."

"Angry."

"It hasn't stopped happening, Rick. It's like we live with a knife at our throats every second of every day. But Jacqui doesn't, not anymore." I put my hand to my head as I rubbed my nose, she got to the point. "And then…I thought, 'maybe Jenner was right.'" That was it, that's what had changed, that one thought.

I turned away for a second then faced her as I stated. "I don't accept that. I can't accept that. That man surrendered, it doesn't matt—it doesn't matter what he said. None of it." I told her, I kept thinking of his last words, and a part of me didn't want to believe it, I couldn't believe it, I _wouldn't_ believe it, and maybe that was the biggest mistake I made.

I looked at her as I asked. "You really think it would be better if Carl—" I didn't finish that sentence, the look in her eyes. "If we just gave up?"

"Tell me why it would be better the other way." She said. "Please." She begged. I didn't have an answer for her. I couldn't say why, just, all my gut instincts told me that dying wasn't the answer. And just maybe that's 'cause it was how I was raised, how I was taught, to survive and live and fight for another day of life. That's why I became a cop, but right now I didn't have the answers she so desperately needed, so I gave her nothing.

I walked back into the house with Lori, we sat outside the bedroom; I had my elbow on a bench seat while she sat against the wall in the little nook that led to the bedroom right next to me. We were at the other door, not wanting to be seen. For a while it was quite, and then Carl started coughing.

Lori and I stood up and ran to him, she knelt next to the bed putting her hand on his forehead as he looked around the room; I leaned next to Lori as I put my hand on his leg as he asked. "Where are we?"

"Hey, little man. That's Hershel." I told him as Hershel stood on the other side of the bed. "We're in his house." Lori was smiling as she looked up at me, then back at Carl as I continued to explain while she stroked his forehead. "You had an accident. All right?"

"It hurts, a lot." Carl said pain in his voice as he was panting.

"Oh baby, I know, I know." Lori said gently. I glanced at Hershel who shook his head. Beth was still upstairs, resting.

"You should have seen it." Carl said looking at his mom.

"What?" She asked.

"The deer. It was so _pretty_, mom. It was so close. I've never been…" Carl stopped mid-sentence, just froze as his eyes looked off.

"Carl?" I asked.

"What is happening?" Lori asked in alarm.

Suddenly Carl starting to spasm his arms and legs jumping of their own accord as he was grunting. I moved to hold him down.

"Don't, it's a seizure." Hershel said. "If you hold him down, you could hurt him." Hershel explained.

"You can't stop it?" Lori asked.

"He has to just go through it." There was nothing we could do as I held Lori while Carl turned on his side and continued to flop around like a fish out of water. Lori started crying as we watched our son, feeling so helpless in this situation. And for a few minutes it felt endless when he finally came to rest, his eyes closed as he laid so still.

Hershel grabbed Carl's arm and laid it on the pillow as Carl's breathing calmed. I let Lori go as she knelt back at his side. Hershel examined him then explained. "His brain isn't getting enough blood. His pressure is bottoming, he needs another transfusion."

"Okay, I'm ready." I told him.

"If I take any more out of you your body could shut down, you could go into a coma. Or _cardiac arrest._"

"You're wasting time." I told him.

I didn't care what happened to me as long as my son got the blood he needed. Hershel grabbed the jar and tubes as I sat down, he started setting the transfusion up as Lori rubbed the back of my neck, using her free hand to grab Carl's.

After my blood had been transferred to the bottle Hershel hooked up the tube to Carl before he left us. Lori moved as she knelt at my feet with her arm resting on my leg, her chin resting on her arm and she just sat there. I started to explain what Carl had been talking about when he'd woken up for that brief amount of time.

"Before it happened we were standing there in the woods and this deer just crossed right in front of us. I swear it just planted itself there and looked Carl right in the eye. And I looked at Carl looking at that deer, and that deer looking right back at Carl." Our eyes met then as I continued. "And that moment just…" I sighed as I shifted my gaze to Carl then back to her. "Slipped away. It slipped away."

She didn't speak as I rested my head back against the chair and looked at the ceiling. "That's what he was talking about when he woke up, not about getting shot or what happened at the church." I met her eyes once again as I continued. "He talked about something beautiful, something living." She closed her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks.

"There's still a life for us, a place maybe like this. It isn't all death out there. It can't be. We just have to be strong enough after everything we've seen to still believe that." I finally had the answer she needed earlier, on that porch when she thought Jenner was right. "Why is it better for Carl to live even in this world? He talked about the deer, Lori. _He talked about the deer._" She went back to resting her head on my leg.

It was a while later, maybe an hour when Hershel came back in and checked his pulse. "He's still losing blood faster than we can replace it. And with the swelling in his abdomen we can't wait any longer or he's just going to slip away." Hershel explained.

I stood up slowly next to Lori as Hershel said. "Now I need to know right now if you want me to do this, because I think your boy is out of time." I looked at the ground. "You have to make a choice." Hershel told us.

"A choice?" Lori asked.

I turned to her. "A choice. You have to tell me what it is. You have to tell me what it is." I asked needing to know if she wanted our son to live or die.

She placed her hand on my cheek, and then looked at Carl as she said. "We do it." I hugged her, I was so happy and proud that she made the right call, in my opinion it was the right decision to make.

Hershel left the room to get Patricia and together they rolled a metal examining table that was the right height and length for Carl.

"Okay, get the corner of that bed." Hershel ordered as he pulled the covers over Carl off the bed. "Let's get the sheets down. Get the I.V back on the sheet." I unhooked it from the headboard and set it on the sheet next to Carl. I lifted Carl's head and removed the pillow laying him gently down on the bed.

"Okay, on three." Hershel said as he grabbed the top sheet on his side, I grabbed the other side. "One, two, three." Hershel and I had his head, while Patricia and Lori had his legs; all together we lifted and moved him to the metal table.

Once he was down Patricia grabbed a metal container that had a towel over it, which Hershel removed, revealing his surgical tools and gloves, which he started to put on while Patricia ran out and grabbed a lamp which she set up to give Hershel more light to work with. She took off the shade and pulled the cords, there were two bulbs one on each side, she lit them both.

Lori and I stood off to the side, she wrapped her arms around me, and I wrapped my arm around her. "Rick, Lori, you may want to step out." Hershel suggested as he picked up a scalpel and was about to cut open my son. But before he got the chance to make the first cut there was the sound of a truck approaching.

I walked to the window and moved the curtain, and sure enough there was Shane driving up in that pickup truck. It was the best sight I'd ever seen. "Oh God." I said before rushing outside, followed by Lori.

"You stay here with him." Hershel told Patricia as he went with us. Glenn, T-Dog and Maggie were right behind us as we exited the house while Shane got out of the truck. He had two bags on his back and was panting like he'd just run the biggest marathon in the world.

"Carl?" He asked out of breath as he limped to meet up with us.

"There's still a chance." I told him. He handed one pack to Hershel and the other to Glenn who gladly took it from him.

"Otis?" Hershel asked, I'd noticed that Shane was alone I just figured something bad happened.

"No." Shane said as he was getting his breathing under control.

"We say nothing to Patricia." Hershel said as he looked between us all. "Not till after, I need her." Hershel headed back followed by Glenn as they took the supplies inside for Carl's surgery.

I walked up to Shane and put my hand at the back of his neck as I brought him in for a hug. He hugged back, I was glad to see he made it back safe and sound and that he brought what we needed to save Carl's life. Shane started to explain what had happened once we let each other go.

"They kept blocking us at every turn. We had nothing left; we were down to ten rounds. Then he said—he said he'd cover me and that I should keep going. So that's what I did, I just…I kept going. But I—I looked back and he—I tried." Shane said. Lori put her hand on Maggie's back as her eyes got wet. I didn't know how close they were to Otis, but losing a friend is hard on anyone no matter what, at least he died a hero.

I put my hand on Shane's shoulder as I leaned in. "He wanted to make it right." Shane looked passed me to Maggie who started crying. Even Lori looked sad at this news; Shane looked back at me. Maggie headed back into the house, T-Dog sat in a rocking chair, Shane against the truck, Lori and I sat on the porch steps as we all waited.

For a good long while we waited. Hoping, praying that Shane arrived in time and that our son would be fine. As Hershel exited the house Lori and I stood up, T-Dog and Shane from where they'd been sitting stood to hear the verdict as well. And Maggie and Glenn had followed Hershel outside.

"He seems to have stabilized." Hershel told us.

I sighed in relief as I held Lori's hand. "Oh God." I looked at Hershel and hugged him.

"I don't have words." Lori cried out with joy.

"I don't either, wish I did. How do I tell Patricia about Otis?" Hershel asked.

I looked at Lori and said. "You go to Carl." She nodded, I looked at Hershel. "I'll go with Hershel." There was no reason why he had to face this tragedy on his own. We all started to file into the house.

Hershel led the way to Patricia in the kitchen. "Patricia we have some bad news." Hershel began. He looked to me; this wasn't the first time I'd had to tell someone a loved one had died. All the years as a sheriff's deputy has taught me that it never gets easier.

"Patricia, Otis didn't make it, he gave his life for Shane and my boy." I explained as gently as I could. She sobbed out as her knees collapsed; Hershel and I kept her from hitting the ground as her grief consumed her.

She leaned on the island in the kitchen as she sobbed her heart out. Hershel kept his hand on her back trying to comfort her, I stood by incase she passed out. Grief can do a number of things to a person. I felt sorry for her, I was just glad that my boy lived thanks to Otis's sacrifice, if only I'd known the truth. I doubt I could've done anything, but I sure as hell wouldn't have trusted Shane for as long as I did. It was one of those regrets we have, that at the time I had been so blind not see that something was terribly wrong with my best friend.

But all I could think about was the safety of the group, and my own failures at being unable to stop all the horrible things that had happened to all of us, including the death of Otis.


	4. Cherokee Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or show, I'm just having a lot of fun with them.

POV: Glenn

Warnings: Violence, Blood and Gore, and Bad Language, Minor Sexual Content, Mpreg.

Cherokee Rose

Next morning several of us got up and started to work, gathering rocks for the grave the family wanted to make for Otis. The ones that were helping besides myself was, Maggie, her sister Beth, _her_ boyfriend Jimmy, T-Dog and Shane. Who was limping from hurting his ankle last night so he wasn't moving as quickly has he could've been, and the clothes he'd been given didn't do much for him, they were a tad too big and made him look awkward to say the least, didn't help that'd he'd shaved his head last night, I had no idea why, Rick asked him but all he said was. "I felt like a change." That was fine I guess.

We were throwing the rocks into a will burrow when the sound of a motorcycle approaching interrupted the silence. We stopped our work as we looked and saw Daryl leading a caravan of Carol's car and Dale's R.V. brought up the rear. I was relieved when I saw them getting closer. I'd been worried since T-Dog and I left yesterday, and last night I barely slept a wink, the need to be near Daryl and hold him, just hold him was so strong.

We walked back to the house as T-Dog headed inside to tell Rick and them. As they drove up and parked T-Dog came back out with Rick and Lori, Hershel was behind them and Patricia stayed on the porch as they walked down to greet the rest of our group.

Daryl turned off his engine and stood up; he put the kick stand down so his bike wouldn't fall. Once he'd finished and swung his leg over I walked up to him, I wasn't sure if he wanted any displays of affection while the new survivors where around to witness it.

But Daryl took that thought out of my hand as I noticed him glance at Maggie who was watching us. Than Daryl put his arm around me in an intimate hug; it was unusual for Daryl to make the first move like that. It felt a little on the possessive side and I guess I never realized until then that Daryl had a real jealous possessive streak. It kind of felt good.

We separated and I backed off some as Dale, Carol and Andrea joined us. "How is he?" Dale asked speaking of Carl.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori informed them, as Patricia came down to stand next to Hershel.

"And Shane." Rick added. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Dale walked forward then and embraced Rick in a comforting hug.

"Thank God." Carol said as she hugged Lori. "We were so worried." Carol told her as Andrea hugged T-Dog.

"How'd it happen?" Dale asked Rick.

"Hunting accident. That's all—just a stupid accident." Rick went on to explain the death of Otis who'd risked his life for Carl's.

Carol, Dale and Daryl helped gather the rest of the rocks we needed and together we went to a spot under one of the trees where we laid the rocks upon each other to signify Otis's grave. Hershel had grabbed his bible from the house and started to speak as Beth placed one of the rocks on the pillar, before going back to her spot

From Hershel clockwise there was Maggie, Patricia, Jimmy, Beth, Andrea, Carol, Lori, Rick, Shane, Dale, me and Daryl. "Blessed be God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ." As Hershel continued to speak Jimmy walked forward took one of the rocks and placed it with the others before going back to their friends. "Praise be to Him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset." We were all sad, as Hershel continued to speak, it was clear that Rick owed a debt to this man he'd never be able to pay.

"We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace. Shane, will you speak for Otis?" I wasn't sure about the look that crossed Shane's face, but it was a look I'd seen a lot growing up, a look that my next door neighbor had, guilt. My neighbor had been in the army and he told me once that he felt guilty for all the men he'd had to kill during his tour, for all the family's that had to lose someone at his own hands. It was the very look that Shane had on his face that day, it could've been survivor's guilt, I don't really know, but it made me ill as I realized that I needed to throw up again.

"I'm not good at it." Shane said as he bowed his head with a shake. "I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him." Patricia said tears in her voice. "You shared his final moments. Please, I need to hear, I need to know his death had meaning."

Shane hesitated as he looked at her with those pleading eyes as she waited. "Okay. We were about done. Almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limping; it was bad, ankle all swollen up. "We've got to save the boy." See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack, he shoved me ahead. "Run," he said. He said, "I'll take the rear, I'll cover you." And when I looked back…"

Shane limped forward to the grave, as he continued. "If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive." He bent into the will burrow, grabbed one of the rocks. "And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both." Shane looked at them, at us. "If any death ever had meaning, it was his." He placed his rock with the others.

As most of us started to work on putting up the tents and make camp Rick talked to Hershel about Sophia and if he'd have a map of the area. Maggie went to the house to find one while the rest gathered around Carol's Cherokee. There was Daryl, Shane, Andrea, Rick and Hershel. I was off to the side watching.

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked.

"This'll be day three." Rick informed him.

"County survey map." Maggie said as she got back and placed the map on the hood of the car. "Show's terrain and elevations." Maggie informed them. She placed small rocks on the edges to keep the map flat.

"This is perfect; we can finally get this thing organized." Rick said. "We'll grid the whole area start searching in teams."

"Not you, not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." Hershel told Rick, and then turned to Shane. "And your ankle—push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."

"Guess it's just me." Daryl said. "I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." Daryl said as he pointed to the map.

"I can still be useful." Shane said. "I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back."

"All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right." Rick said.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane told Rick. Carol walked by as she and I started to set up our tents. I glanced up as I heard Hershel.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp." Dale had the sleeping bags as he walked to where the rest of our things were being placed for the time being.

"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here…" Shane scoffed.

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we _will_ respect that." Rick said as he pulled out his pistol and laid it on the map. Shane clearly didn't like the idea but he followed Rick's lead. "First things first: set camp, find Sophia."

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit?" Shane asked. I hated hearing that. I turned to put the tent up; I could still hear the conversation though. "I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."

"You do what has to be done." Rick answered.

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked him, upset at the idea of Rick's suggestion.

"The truth." Andrea said.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience." Shane said. I was watching them again as he looked at Hershel waiting.

"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Rick told him, I saw Hershel nod. "Thank you." Rick said. I walked over and grabbed one side of the tent while Carol had the other and together we started to raise it.

"That stuff you brought, got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?" Maggie asked as Daryl and Shane walked off. Daryl squeezed my shoulder before he moved on to head out in search of Sophia.

"Just what you've seen." Andrea told her before walking away as well.

"We're running short already; I should make a run into town." Maggie told them.

"Not the place Shane went?" Rick asked.

"No, there's a pharmacy just a mile down the road." Maggie informed him. "I've done it before."

"See our man there in the baseball cap." I had my back turned when I heard Rick; I crannied my to look at him for a second before continuing to help Lori and Carol get the tent standing. "That's Glenn, our go-to-town expert. I'd ask him along just to be cautious." That was the end of their conversation. It took only a few more minutes and we had the first tent up.

Maggie came up to me a few minutes after everyone left. "I hear your fast on your feet and know how to get in and out." From the way she stated it I was a little confused, it didn't sound like a question more a statement really. "Got a pharmacy run you in?" See now that was a question.

"Uh…" I was about to say yes when Dale interrupted.

"Miss, what's the water situation here?"

"Got five wells on our land. House draws directly from number one. Number-two well is right over there." She informed him as she pointed in the direction of number-two. "We use it for the cattle but it's just as pure. Take what you need there's a cart and containers in the generator shed behind the house." She turned to me then. "I'll go saddle your horse then." She walked away.

I turned to Dale and said. "Horse?" I'd never ridden a horse before, and right now the idea was a little scary as I placed my hand on my flat belly. "Dale can I barrow your binoculars?"

"Sure." Dale went into the R.V. and came back a second later. I took them and looked toward the house where I saw Daryl as he headed to the woods to find Sophia. He paused for a second to speak to Rick then moved on. He did stop and look toward me, he smirked as he waved and that made me smile as I waved back before he continued on. I lowered my view to his backside, which was a very nice view indeed before he disappeared from sight.

I turned and saw Maggie on a horse with one next to her which she was leading by the reigns. I gulped knowing that I'd have to ride next to her; it wasn't that I didn't like the idea, but that was the problem, I did. She was an attractive girl, and I was attracted to her, of 'course I thought of Daryl and what we have, and what we're going to have in like eight, nine months from now; then I felt horrible for being attracted to this woman who I didn't even know at the time.

Lori stepped in front of my binocular view of Maggie; I lowered them as she spoke. "Hi. Here's your list." She handed me a piece of paper, which I started to unfold as she said. "And, um, there's two other items I wrote down separately. One is personal, if we could be real discreet about that, okay?" She asked as she handed me the other small piece of paper.

"Sure." I told her as I took a look at what was written on it.

"Thank you." She said before turning to leave.

"Uh, what are they?" I asked as I stopped her mid-stride while I read what it said.

"Kind of missing the point of the whole discreet thing, Glenn." Lori told me.

"Uh. Right. Um…" I followed her as she stopped again and looked at me. "I just need to know where to find them."

"Try the feminine hygiene section."

"Oh. Enough said. Consider it done." I told her. "Wait what about the second one?"

"Oh, since you'll be in that area for what I need I put some prenatal vitamins on the list for you, now that your pregnant. It's the first chance we've gotten for a pharmacy, so it just crossed my mind."

"Thank you." I told her, she turned again when I realized something else. "Lori, what are prenatal vitamins exactly?"

"Oh, they're vitamins to help in the growth and development of your unborn child; they add vitamins to fill in the gaps in your diet. You're going to need them especially now, considering the diet we've all been having." I nodded in understanding as I pocketed the lists.

It was a few minutes after that conversation that T-Dog showed up, and informed several of us that there was a problem with the number-two well. So Maggie, Lori, Andrea, Shane and myself followed T-Dog back to the well where Dale was waiting.

We all looked down and there was a bloated walker that had been soaking in that well for some time. "Looks like we've got us a swimmer." Dale said as he held the flashlight on him.

"How long do you think it's been down there?" I asked.

"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea said.

"We can't leave it in there. God knows what it's doing to the water." Lori suggested.

"We got to get it out." Shane informed us.

"Easy. Put a bullet in its head." T-Dog suggested.

"Whoa, whoa, guys no." Maggie objected.

"Why not? It's a good plan." I asked.

"It's a stupid plan." Andrea said. "If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing it's brains out will finish the job."

"She's right, can't risk it." Shane agreed.

"So it has to come out alive?" T-Dog asked.

"So to speak." Shane said.

"How do we do that?" I asked as I looked up at them. T-Dog got a couple of pieces of rope and Shane sent Maggie to the house for a canned ham of some kind. We tied it like bait on a hook and lowered it down to grab its attention as we tried to put the noose around its neck.

"He's not going for it." Dale said after a few minutes of this.

"Maybe 'cause a canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it." T-Dog suggested.

"He's right. There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards." Lori said from her crouched position over the well. I stood next to her with my arms crossed, I felt a little sick to my stomach, which at this point was nothing new.

"We need live bait." Andrea suggested, and then looked at me. The rest followed her lead.

"We can't." Dale said in my defense.

"He's the fastest one here. Besides I'm not sending one of the women and the rest of us are too slow for this job. I'm the strongest so I'll be at the front holding the rope he'll be fine." Shane said, which started an argument between them about my health and what would Daryl think and Maggie being confused why this is was a problem and how they could even think about using someone in the first place, this went on for about ten minutes when finally I had enough.

"Stop it, it's my life, my body and I get the last say. I'll do it. I'll take responsibility, so that's that." Everyone looked at me and allowed me to do what needed to be done. I sat on the edge of the well, with my feet on the rod in the middle, where they normally lower a bucket but which will be used to lower me instead. Shane was tying the rope around my waist.

"Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut?" To say I was nervous and scared was an understatement. "You have a nice shaped head." I continued as he made sure the knot was nice and tight so the rope wouldn't come undone.

Lori handed me a flashlight as Shane moved off with a simple. "Don't worry about it, bud." He knelt then and looked me in the eye as he stated firmly. "We're gonna get you out of here in one piece."

"Living piece. That living part is important." I told him as I took the noose I was to put around the walker and swung it on my shoulder. Shane moved then to the rope that had been put around the spout that's used to get the water from the well into a container. It was thick and metal, but also old and rusted, and the rope had been wrapped around it make lowering me easier to control.

"Nice and slow please." I asked as Shane took the front, while T-Dog, Dale, Andrea, and Lori were holding the rope behind him.

"We got you." Andrea told me.

"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie said off at the side not wanting any part in this.

"You want to get it out of your well or not?" Shane asked.

"Give us an eye there, Maggie." Dale said. She walked to the well to keep an eye on my progress. I slipped off the edge and they started a slow decent down. The closer I got to the thing the faster my heart beat. I was terrified, for myself, for my baby, Daryl's reaction when he finds out about this. "Doing okay?" Maggie asked as she peered in from above.

"Yup, doing great." I lied through my teeth, I wanted out of there so badly. "Living the dream." I muttered. I flashed the light down at the walker, which it responded to, but when I moved the light away it went back to what it had been doing which was walking in a circle and scratching at the rock walls as if I wasn't even there.

That's when I realized that the closer I got the less it seemed to notice me at all. They lowered me further as I took off the noose from my shoulder and I prepared to put it around him.

"Little lower, little more." Maggie told them. That's when the pipe broke and I felt the jerk which made me scream and that's when the walker took notice. But quickly lost interest, something I'd never seen before.

I heard yelling above me as they were grabbing for the pipe as I fell some more and I screamed at them. "Get me out of here!" I felt a hand at my foot and freaked, it let go as if it no longer had any interest in eating me that's when I calmed down, as I took the noose in my hand and slipped it around the bloated walker.

As I remained calm while the others continued to struggle with pulling me up, 'cause it turned out that T-Dog grabbed the pipe instead of Shane, and Shane didn't want to hurt T-Dog so he didn't use his strength as they all held onto him. But then as my fear went away the walker suddenly grabbed my leg and while snarling tried to bite me.

I screamed. "Get it off, get off." My fear ratcheted up again as I kicked to dislodge it suddenly wishing Daryl was there and thinking I had been dumb enough to agree to be walker bait. "Get me out!" I screamed as it let go no longer interested in me. By that point Shane got hold of the rope and using his strength easily started to pull me out of the well as the others held on with T-Dog to that pipe.

I was breathing hard as I grabbed the rod and pulled myself the rest of the way out of the well where I collapsed on the ground as the others ran to me. "Glenn, are you okay?" Lori asked.

I was on my hands and knees trying not to be sick as Dale said. "Back to the drawing board."

I looked at me as I got my panic under control as I slowly stood. "Says you." I handed him the other rope that had the noose which was firmly attached to the walker.

As they all looked in the well I went off to throw up for a few minutes. I also had to figure out what the hell had happened in that hole. When I got scared it didn't even know I was there. But when I calmed down and was no longer afraid it tried to bite me. I figured it had to be a new mutation right, as long as I'm scared the walker never even noticed me. I wasn't even sure if that was right, but what else did I have to go on, it was so random and why hadn't it happened before now. I placed a hand on my belly as I'd calmed and then a thought suddenly came to me. What if the mutation I experienced wasn't mine. I wasn't about to put a voice to these thoughts until I had more evidence, 'cause all I had at that moment was a theory.

I straightened up and walked back to the others as they wrapped the rope around the saddle of Maggie's horse and got in a line to pull the walker out of the well. Andrea, Lori, Dale, myself all started pulling on the rope as Maggie led the horse.

"Come on guys pull." T-Dog said as he stood next to the well watching the walking below.

"Come on, y'all." Shane seconded from his position at the rear of the rope line as we pulled, but he didn't want to risk pulling to hard and ripping the body, so he pulled from the back to ease the horses struggle.

"Almost there, come on, pull, guys." T-Dog encouraged.

"Come on, y'all together." Shane said as we all yanked and pulled as a team.

"Nice and easy, just a little more." T-Dog said just as the walker's upper body became visible. "You've got to pull it, man." T-Dog said as the walker got stuck.

"It's stuck! Come on." Shane said. We all pulled and nothing happened.

Shane sighed. "That's it, move." Shane ordered in frustration as he pushed us away then took a firmer hold wrapping the rope around his arm. And as we watched he pulled with all his strength and the worst happened. The walker ripped in two, his upper half on land, his lower half along with a lot of blood and insides went right back into the well, and I got sick again right there on the grass. I looked up and saw Maggie watching me; there was worry in her expression.

If the well wasn't infected before, it was now. We were upset as Dale said. "We should seal off this well." The walker was trying to grab at us.

"Yeah, might be a good idea." Shane said as he rubbed his head in aggravation. It wasn't totally Shane's fault he tried to get the walker unstuck it just didn't work out.

"So what do we do about—" Andrea started but was cut off as T-Dog started going in on the walkers head with a metal rod. Maggie turned around unable to watch and I felt sick again, I watched as she walked off while the rest just waited for T-Dog to finish.

"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it." T-Dog said once he was done, he threw the rod on the ground and walked away.

The rest went their separate ways, Shane and Andrea mentioned going to the highway to see if Sophia made it back, they went to ask if Carol wanted to come. I went back to camp to grab my backpack before I saddled up next to Maggie and we headed to town. It was silent for a while and it was making me nervous, of course I'd been nervous since getting out of that hole in the ground. I wished Daryl had been back before I left, I knew he should be back by tonight, it still worried me though when he's out there alone. Not that Daryl can't handle himself, it's just that I love him so much, that being away from him, worries me.

I decided to break the silence. "You know, normally this is the kind of thing I'd do on my own. Solo." I chuckled, she didn't respond, I continued to babble, just to fill the silence. "It's sort of my thing, you know?" Still nothing.

I finally asked as we passed a bar into town. "You all right?"

"I'm fine." Her voice didn't sound fine to me.

"I saw the look on your face, back at the well. Never seen one killed up close before?" I asked, she didn't answer. "Guess it's kind of a shock. You know, being out on the road, we've seen a lot. Guess we've gotten a little numb to it."

"Whoa." She told her horse as it slowed down, and then spoke to me. "I guess so." She got off as I followed her lead and we both stopped in front of the pharmacy window. There was a cardboard sign that read. 'Take what you need and God bless.'

I slipped off my pack as she asked. "You sick?" I looked at her confused. "I saw you throw up, at the well, are you sick?" I shook my head.

"Finicky stomach right now." I informed her. She nodded; I wasn't ready to tell her about my current condition until Rick and the rest of us were sure of her group. She had a saddle bag swung on her shoulder as she entered the building, I followed after.

The place looked like it had already been pretty much ransacked; I hoped we could find what we needed. "I'll go see what antibiotics are left." She informed me before asking. "What else is on the list?"

"Uh…" I pulled out the papers and handed her the first one, the piece I kept is what Lori needed and the prenatal vitamins. "Why don't you get started?"

"What about you?" She asked as she unfolded the paper.

"I'm gonna look around, see what's worth grabbing. Just some general stuff." That seemed to work as she walked off to grab the stuff, and with pack in hand I looked for the feminine aisle.

I grabbed a basket to put the items in as I found the feminine hygiene section and started looking. I found prenatal vitamins that Lori put on there and put those in my pack, and then I started looking through for what Lori wanted.

I picked up a few pieces and dropped them before I found what I was looking for. I picked it up in shock as I looked at it; it was clearly marked as a pregnancy test. That's when Maggie showed up behind me. "What do you got?" She asked as she was putting bottles of pills and bandages in her saddle bag.

I stuffed it quickly in my pack with the vitamins and grabbed the first thing my hand came in contact with before I stood up. "Nothing." I turned around with box in hand. "Just, like I said, general stuff." I glanced at the box and had to stop as I took a better look at what I'd grabbed.

"Condoms?" Maggie asked. Well wasn't that embarrassing, if only I'd found condoms a couple of months ago I wouldn't be in this current condition, Daryl's just going to love hearing about this. I looked at her in shock as she asked. "You got a girlfriend I don't know about?"

"No. No girlfriend." But before I could tell her the truth 'cause I wasn't going to hide it she said.

"Then you're a pretty confident guy." I realized then what she thought.

"No." I set the box down. "No, no, no, I-I-I wasn't—I would _never_—"

"Something wrong with me?" She asked slightly offended. I was nervous and embarrassed and was trying to tell her the truth but it was hard when she made me feel slightly intimidated.

"No. No, I—I would never have sex—I-I'm—I'm lost." I was flabbergasted. I didn't know how to tell her the truth now without sound like an ass making up an excuse after all that stuttering just now.

"I'll have sex with you."

"What—No. I—I can't."

"So, another girlfriend, I'm not your type, you're gay what excuse is it then." I didn't have an answer right then as she set down the saddle bags and took off her cowboy hat as she walked up in my personal space. She took off my baseball cap right before she kissed me and I freaked thinking of what Daryl would say. I pushed her back and she seemed confused and angry.

"What is it then?!" She was slightly pissed off.

"I have a boyfriend okay." I told her suddenly.

"So you are gay?"

"Yes and no. I'm bisexual that happens to be in a relationship. Maggie it's not that I don't want to, the problem is I do. But I can't."

"You love him?" She asked as she gave me some space.

"Yes I do, very much so." I said without hesitating or stuttering.

"It's the redneck isn't it?" She asked, I nodded.

"He seemed real possessive for someone that was just a friend. Why didn't you just say it?"

"You make me nervous, girls always have. And I didn't want it to come off as an excuse, because it's not, it's true."

"Let's forget this happened then." Maggie put her hat back on and grabbed her saddle bags and then went to collect the rest of the list. I put my cap on and grabbed my pack as I stuffed the condoms in there, then grabbed anything else we might need, I went to the counter where the register was and found a small white paper bag to put Lori's item in while Maggie was distracted with gathering things. A few minutes later she was ready to leave, so we headed back to the horses and rode for the farm.

It was quite on the way back and we didn't speak of the mistake in the pharmacy as we rode. Half way back to the farm I broke the silence. "Maggie, I would like to be your friend." She looked at me and then smiled.

"I'm sorry; I pushed myself onto you assuming something that wasn't there. You said bi, so you must've been at least a little bit attracted to me?"

"Yes Maggie, try very, but what Daryl and I have, is real, and I love him. I would never hurt him by cheating on him."

"I can respect that." The rest of the way was a comfortable silence as we got to the farm and I tied the horses reigns to the tree out front as Hershel came down the steps to greet Maggie.

"Everything go okay?" He asked.

"Fine. Nothing happened." She told him, before heading to the house, Hershel glanced at me then went with her. Lori passed them as she came out of the house screen door slamming behind her.

"Did you find it?" She asked me as Maggie and Hershel entered the house.

I slipped my pack off and pulled it out handing it to her; she stuffed in in the back of her pants covering the rest with her shirt. I decided not to say anything, it was none of my business, I turned to see that Daryl had gotten back as he walked into the R.V. There was still a tent or two to be put up; the one I've been sharing with Daryl was one of them.

I followed Daryl at the R.V. and opened it to speak with him when I saw that Carol was in the back sawing, I saw Daryl stop and place a beer battle with a white flower in it on the counter in front of her. I noticed that the place was also cleaned up, I didn't speak as I witnessed this moment between them.

"A flower?" Carol asked

"It's a Cherokee Rose." Daryl told her. He moved a little closer as he continued to explain. "The story is, that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the trail of tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way. From exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope." Daryl paused as he swallowed before he finished.

"The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for your little girl." Carol didn't say anything as Daryl backed out and turned, he saw me standing there in the open door.

He grabbed the back of my neck before he looked back toward Carol. "She's gonna really like it in here." The door closed behind us as we left. Daryl wasn't angry that I'd been there; I can tell when he's angry; his hold would be a lot more painful.

He led me behind the R.V. out of sight where he kissed me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he placed his hands on my sides as we continued to make out for several minutes, until we had to part for air, well air for me it didn't seem that Daryl had gotten winded.

"Let's put up that tent." Daryl said as he put his hand on the small of my back and we got to work. Half an hour later it was up and we were putting out sleeping bags with the pillows on top. Daryl kissed my neck as I ended up next to him in the tent. I stopped him though so we could talk.

"Daryl there was an incident with a walker today."

"What happened?" Daryl asked as he sat down as I explained to him what had happened, from the moment we were gathered at the well, to when we realized we needed live bait voiced by Andrea. I told him about Shane's argument why I was best qualified, and right to when I almost fell on top of the walker.

"The strangest thing was how the walker responded. It acted as if I wasn't even there…as long as I panicked, but the moment I calmed it tried to take a bite out of my leg, which scared the crap out of me. It let go, I can't understand it, but I don't want to question it. In the end the whole plan fell apart, when the walker tore in two and contaminated the well anyways." I finished. Daryl listened, didn't interrupt and seemed to handle it very well.

Daryl and I walked out of our tent a few minutes later as he saw Shane and Andrea talking as they were coming back to camp. He grabbed my hand and walked over to them. "I want to talk with you two, now." Daryl said as he got closer. They looked at each other and followed as Daryl led to a secluded spot away from prying eyes and ears before rounding on them and letting my hand go.

He pointed to Shane as he said. "You ever lower Glenn into a well again you better damn well hope I'm dead, 'cause _you_ will be." Daryl told him as his voice got low and sinister. Shane was opening his mouth to defend himself when Daryl interrupted as he pointed to Andrea. "You ever suggest someone be live bait, you do it or goddamn self, 'cause if you don't, then _I _will throw you down that well myself." Then he rounded on me. "Don't you ever agree to another fool act like that, you're pregnant and you're going to have to be a parent to this baby just like me, 'cause if you _ever_ do that again, I'll leave you." These weren't threats that Daryl was just ideally making, the look in his eyes, he meant it and I understood then a part of who Daryl was. I nodded, then Daryl walked away leaving us to watch him go.

As the sun set we got dinner and ate in the R.V. with the group, except for Rick and Lori who were in the house with their son. We laughed and relaxed before we finished and headed to our separate tents with the rest set up and ready to sleep in. I laid by Daryl when he spoke after several minutes of silence between us as the lights were being turned off. "I'm sorry, when you told me what happened, I lost my head, I got pissed. But the thought of losing you and _our _baby is not something I want to think about."

"Daryl, you don't have to apologize, I know, and I love you for it." I grabbed Daryl's arm and turned him so we were on our sides facing each other. Daryl kissed me, and I kissed back as we started frantically taking off our clothes in a hurry before I got on my hands and knees as Daryl wrapped his arm around my waist holding me close as I felt him prepare and enter me smoothly as we moaned and groaned.

I thrust back meeting Daryl as we got in a rhythm together. I didn't tell him that day about what happened in the pharmacy with Maggie, 'cause to me, nothing happened, I have who I want and I don't regret a minute of telling her no.

I cried out Daryl's name as I came, with Daryl seconds after. We laid together in the afterglow as we cozied up to each other and fell asleep. That night was relaxed and safe and peaceful as we slept together not having to worry about anything, after all worry is a day time thing.


End file.
